Of Foxes and Snowflakes
by ZeroDivisionRaijin
Summary: Reincarnated into a new body, Naruto finds himself in the world of Remnant, along with a certain Uchiha progenitor. None too happy about the situation and less than thrilled about the state of the world, Naruto is once again put into a situation where he must make a choice: Save them all or let Remnant burn? Strong/Smart/Sharingan Naruto, pairing undecided
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Well, now that the heart attack FF had is over, I can finally upload this. Here I am again with another Naruto x RWBY crossover, ladies and gents! This one is a bit different than the other two I'm working on right now, but I hope it measures up. Another short-ish introduction chapter, but I had fun writing this one. Also, I just find it humorous to name any of the as of now unnamed Schnee family members after the Starks from Game of Thrones, a trend that stretches into my other two crossovers as well. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated, but no flames!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or RWBY. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto and RoosterTeeth.**

 **Chapter 1: The Return of the Savior**

It was snowing. Rather heavily. So much so that he had to pull up the hood of the heavy white cloak he was wearing. It was snowing. And yet it was warm. The fires that he and his two guards periodically passed were a somewhat welcome reprieve from Mantle's harsh winters that were especially harsh for the Kingdom of Atlas. He didn't know why he had stopped the armored limo he was riding in, he didn't know what was compelling him to trudge through the ice and snow, through a ruined town that the Grimm no doubt razed and into one home in particular.

Ned Schnee was a very practical man that hated to be late for appointments, he was the CEO and President of the Schnee Dust Company, after all, and he had learned very early on that punctuality was a trait of a good businessman. He had a meeting to get to, so why was he being drawn to this ruined husk of a house? Surely there would be no survivors, right? Then why did he hear the cries of a baby?

Stepping into another room, Ned found the source of the cries in the form of a baby boy no older than a year, squirming and wailing, oblivious to the fact that he was right between the corpses of his parents, a blonde haired man and a redhead woman. Judging from the discarded weapons, the parents were most likely Hunters and they died protecting their only son.

"Mr. Schnee." Called out one of the guards. "We have confirmation of these people's names."

Eyeing the katana that was handed to him, Ned read aloud the name of the wielder.

"Minato Xiao Long." Xiao Long… that name sounded familiar. "Taiyang!" Ned came to the realization that the dead man was Taiyang Xiao Long's youngest brother. Like hell he'd forget Taiyang, the blonde idiot was like a brother to him back during his days as a Huntsman.

"I'm sorry, Tai…" Ned whispered as he closed his eyes and slightly bowed his head in a silent prayer. "If this is Minato, then… oh, Kushina…"

Kushina Nikos, twin sister of the famed Huntress Athena Nikos, who Ned was also familiar with. Truth be told, he had a crush on Kushina way back when, but he never did come out and tell her because by the time he worked up the courage, she and Minato started dating. Again, he lowered his head in prayer for their souls, then turned his attention to the blonde bundle that was their son.

"Naruto…" He recalled the name. Taiyang had called one day to announce that Kushina had given birth to a baby boy, but that memory was nearly drowned out because of the death of his father, Rickard nearly a week later. That was when he took over the SDC as CEO and President, that was the day he gave up being a Huntsman.

After bending down and scooping the baby boy into his arms, Ned turned to his two bodyguards. "Let's go. I'm finished here."

"What about the bodies, sir?" One guard asked.

"We'll get in touch with Vale's Beacon Academy once we get back to Castle White. Double time it, this boy needs immediate attention!"

 **(Castle White: Infirmary: An hour later)**

"Daddy… Baby!" Squealed the small mop of white hair that was a two year old Winter Schnee who was squirming in Ned's arms.

"That's right, Winter." Ned chuckled. "A baby."

"Like Mommy?"

"Yes." Again he chuckled at Winter referring to his very heavily pregnant wife, Catelyn Schnee, who was due at any time now and pregnant with twin girls. "We'll be raising him here, Winter. From now on, he's your little brother."

"Name, Daddy? Baby name?"

"Naruto. Naruto Xiao Long."

Seeing his oldest daughter quiet down for the moment, Ned took the time to regard the little blonde that slept quietly upon one of the infirmary's beds. He hadn't even told Taiyang what happened to his brother and sister-in-law. From the latest calls they've had, Taiyang's wife, one Raven Branwen, was also expecting a child soon, a baby girl which they were going to name Yang. He didn't want to tell Taiyang, he didn't want to ruin the couple's happiness. If he were being completely honest, he didn't even want to send the child back to his family. That strange feeling always came back whenever he thought about sending the little dragon back to his Uncle.

Sighing, Ned began his trek back to his office after handing Winter off to one of the maids. Making it to the top floor of the castle, through his and his wife's bedroom and into his personal study, Ned sighed as he loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt, then ran a hand through his pure white hair before pressing a few buttons on his personal terminal. A light electronic ringing then filled the air before someone on the other end of the line picked up, another mop of blonde.

"Ned!" Taiyang jovially greeted his best friend over the video feed. "I didn't expect to hear from you! How are things over in Atlas? How's the company?"

"Everything's fine on my end, Tai." Ned lightly chuckled at his friend's ever present impressionable smile.

"Good, good! Raven's doing fine; she's about a month away from being ready to pop. Once Yang's here, I might make a trip up there to introduce her to Minato and Kushina and to see how my nephew's doing. Wanna tag along, introduce Winter to our kids?"

"Tai…"

The grave tone that Ned said his name instantly put Taiyang on guard. "Ned, what's wrong?"

"There's no easy way for me to say this, Tai… your brother's dead, along with Kushina."

"… W-What?" Came the stunned response of Taiyang after a few moments of horrified silence.

"I was on my way to a meeting when I stumbled upon the town where Minato and Kushina were residing in. The place had been razed by the Grimm. After investigating, I came upon their house. Therein I found their corpses. Tai, I'm sorry…"

"And Naruto?! What about my nephew?! Ned, please tell me he's alive!"

"… He's alive and well." He paused for a relieved sigh to escape Taiyang. "I picked him up from the wreckage of the house and he's currently being cared for here at Castle White for the time being.

"Thank God…"

"What do you want to do, Tai? Come get him?"

"Just… give me a few days. I'll be up there as soon as I can. I want to talk about this personally."

"Of course, Tai. Just let me know what you arrive, I'll have an escort ready to bring you to Castle White."

"Alright…"

"Tai, I really am sorry. If it makes you feel better, we've contacted Ozpin over at Beacon. He and James are going to oversee a funeral procession for them, full military honors, considering Minato was an officer up here in our Atlesian Military as well as a Huntsman. They're going to leave the time and location for the funeral up to you."

"Just another thing to talk about once I get there… but… thanks, Ned. I mean it, thank you for saving my nephew."

"No need to thank me, Tai. Just… take some time and when you're ready, come up to Atlas and we can discuss everything."

"See you then, Ned."

Ned then ended the call and released a heavy sigh as he leaned back into his seat, brushing a hand through his white hair once again.

"NED!" Screamed a woman, Catelyn.

"Cat?!" Ned exclaimed as he rose from his chair and ran into the hallway, where he saw his wife clutching her belly.

"They're coming, Ned!" Cat screamed in pain.

"Someone get her down to the infirmary now!" Ned hollered out, getting a few passing maids to help her down the flights of stairs to the infirmary.

 **(Castle White: Four Days Later)**

"I'm sosorry, Ned." Taiyang placed a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder.

The pair were standing outside the waiting room of Castle White's infirmary, looking through the glass partition into the actual infirmary where Cat was nursing a baby girl with white hair.

"Weiss made it… but Aurora died." Ned clenched his fists. "Why, Tai? Why did this happen?!"

"Nothing that I'll say can make the hurt go away, Ned. Only time can do that. Treasure the fact that Weiss made it through perfectly fine, mourn Aurora, but don't let this grief control you."

"This week has just been a week from hell…" Ned bitterly muttered. "Dammit!" He then threw his right fist forward into the wall, which only served to wake a sleeping Weiss up.

The sounds of a very unhappy baby Schnee filled the Infirmary, where another baby's cries soon joined Weiss's. Naruto had joined in when he was in turn woken up by Weiss's screams.

On cue, one of the maids made to scoop Naruto up, to take him out of the room, but Cat stopped her.

"Give him to me." She softly said with a small smile.

"M-Miss Schnee?" The maid asked, bewildered.

"Give him to me. Please." Cat repeated herself, her smile never dropping.

Nodding her compliance, the maid gently handed a still crying Naruto to Cat, who adjusted to having to care for two babies at the same time. After readjusting herself, she began to hum a soft tune to the two babies as she gently rocked them back and forth.

Ned and Taiyang looked on in stunned silence as the two babies gradually began to cry less and less until they both were lulled back into sleep in the arms of Cat, who was now crying, but she nonetheless still hummed her tune.

"Ned…" Taiyang breathed out. "She just…"

"Cat, you…" Ned managed to say as a lone tear streaked down his face. "Tai… I know he's your nephew, but… can we keep him?"

"Ned?"

"Cat seems to have latched onto him as a substitute for Aurora. Caring for him seems therapeutic to her. Tai, please. I know it's a rather sizeable request, but… Cat seems to have taken him in, to have accepted him. For her sake, Tai… can we keep him?"

Taiyang then began glancing between Ned and Cat, as if weighing his options. "Just… take care of him, Ned." He finally said with a sigh. "Keep me updated on his progress, let Raven and I visit from time to time… I don't want him to lose track of his family."

"It goes without saying, Tai."

"Then you can have him. Raise him properly; make sure he's a good brother to both Weiss and Winter. He's all that I have left of my little brother, Ned. It goes without saying that I want him well taken care of."

"Of course."

"And also, when it comes time, send him to Beacon should he wish to become a Huntsman. I trust James, but you, Minato, Kushina, Raven, Summer and I all went to Beacon. I want him to go where our families past and current generations have gone. Can you do that for me?"

"I swear, Tai. I swear I'll send him to Beacon should he show interest in becoming a Huntsman."

"Then that's all I ask."

"He…" They both heard Cat begin to sob. "Ned!" She called out to him, prompting he and Taiyang to run into the room. "Naruto, he… he said 'mama'!"

"That… that's good, Cat! Now all we need to do is put a dictionary in front of him and he'll be debating politics in no time!" Taiyang joked.

"Thank you, Tai." Ned whispered to his friend. "This means more to her than you can possibly imagine."

"I know he's in good hands, Ned." Taiyang responded with a smile.

Naruto Xiao Long would, form this day onward, be known as Naruto Schnee, raised as the second oldest of the Schnee children. Little did Ned know that he had just adopted a legend reborn. And little did he know that he had made the fateful decision to raise said legend. Naruto Uzumaki was back, having been reincarnated through Asura's Chakra. Was Remnant ready for the return of this hero? Was Remnant ready for whatever prompted Naruto's reincarnation? Was Naruto himself ready to defend the world once again? Did he even want to save the world again?

' _At least I'll have time to assimilate myself into this new body.'_ Naruto sighed from inside his mindscape. _'Though I'm not looking forward to going through puberty again… or school… meh, hopefully I can make a difference in this world like I did in my last one. Mental note: Punch Hagoromo-jiji in the face the next time I see him for dragging me away from my family in the afterlife. And kick these Grimm creatures in the nuts for being the cause of my reincarnation!'_

' _Calm down, kid.'_ Came another voice.

' _Asura?! You're here as well?!'_

' _I'm Indra, brat! Don't compare me to my little brother!'_ Indra snapped.

' _And why did Hagoromo-jiji send you with me?! I'm not an Uchiha!'_

' _He said your new body would need a bit of a pick-me-up. So shut up and start the assimilation process!'_

' _Why?! So I can go crazy and kill my entire family because of that damn curse of yours?!'_

' _Because the Grimm aren't the real threat here, that's why! Otou-sama (Father) saw the true threat and he wants your new body to be equipped and ready for the danger! That's why he sent me here so we both could assimilate into your new body!'_

' _Fine, you win, dammit! But you better not turn me emo, or I swear to fucking Kami…'_ Naruto let the threat linger there as he began the assimilation process.

It was official… Naruto was the unluckiest person ever. Saved his world, died in his sleep at an old age, reunited with his family and friends in the afterlife, only to be reincarnated along with the progenitor of the Uchiha to save yet another world that seemed hell-bent on destroying itself. Yep, this was gonna suck.

 **AN: So, what do you guys think of this one? Good? Bad? Yes, Indra has been sent back with Naruto, thus his new body will have the Sharingan, but it will not manifest right away, unlike with Foxes and Dust. Also, Naruto will be raised alongside Weiss and Winter and he's a year older than Weiss. That being said, the pairing for this one is also undecided as I want your opinions on this one. Should the pairing shift towards Weiss for a kinky faux brother/sister relationship? Should it go to Winter for the same reasons? Or should it go to someone different? I want your opinions, people, so let me know who among the girls Naruto should end up with! This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: You guys have no idea how many times I wrote and rewrote this chapter. Seriously. I stopped counting after five times, but the end result was this, and I think it's at least acceptable for now. Sorry for the long wait, but as I said, I struggled with this one a bit. But enough of my lamenting! Chapter 2, at long last!**

 **Chapter 2: Chess, Little Sisters and Whisker Marks… Oh My!**

"It always amazes me." Chuckled the one and only James Ironwood as he stared at the chessboard in front of him. "Only fourteen years old, still in your first year at Kronos Academy, and yet you excel at chess… how do you do it?" He then moved one of his black pawns.

"Time, patience, an amount of understanding…" James's opponent paused to take the moved pawn with a white knight piece. "And a doting big sister who cares about you enough to ram the rules and strategies down your throat until you can beat her." He then chuckled to himself and leaned back into the leather chair he was sitting in.

"Reminds me of how my own sister used to be." James returned the chuckle as he moved up one of his bishops and took the aforementioned white knight. "She was doting, kind, outgoing… the best sister someone like me could have asked for."

"What happened to her?" His opponent asked in a curious tone as he retaliated by taking the bishop with one of his pawns.

"Oh, nothing. She's running a quaint little restaurant in Atlas City. I try to make it down there every once in a while but, as you know, being both a Headmaster and a General takes up most of my time."

"Yet we always have these weekly chess matches."

"You're good company, Naruto. Mr. Schnee raised you well."

Naruto Schnee, or rather, Naruto Uzumaki, chuckled once again as he moved a rook into place. "I like to think that Father raised Winter, Weiss and I equally, but…"

"You have your doubts?" James questioned as he moved his own rook up. "There have been rumors about Ned playing favorites. Would you care enough to enlighten the uninformed?"

"While he's treated us all equally, I just can't help but think that he's paying special attention to both Winter and I."

"Why, though?"

"I don't know, James…" Naruto sighed. "Winter is the oldest of us three, so I can see why he'd pay attention to her, but in my case… I'm a Schnee by name only, so I don't know why he'd even bother."

"Even if you aren't a Schnee by blood, you're still Ned's adopted son and he still loves you as if you were his own child." James offered as his attempt to comfort his young friend. "Besides, greatness is still in your blood. You were Minato's child and he still stands as one of the best Huntsman the Kingdoms have ever produced, quite possibly topped only by two men."

"Qrow and Oz?"

"Say what you will about Qrow, he is damned good at what he does, and Oz…" James paused to move his queen. "Well, let's just say that Oz is a special case."

"And to think that I'm going to be attending his Academy in three years." Naruto nodded as he took James's queen with his own queen.

"Damn." The Headmaster hissed under his breath. "Are you even trying this time?"

"You don't want me to answer that." Naruto shot a smirk over to his opponent.

Returning the smirk, James was about to move a bishop to take Naruto's queen when the doors to his office swung open in a flash of white.

"Naruto!" A voice called out to him.

"Yes, Weiss?" Naruto questioned as he stood from his seat and approached his little sister.

"You're late!" She pouted. "You were supposed to spend the day with me! Take me shopping! Show me how to unlock my Aura!"

"Well, as you can see, Professor Ironwood and I haven't finished our chess game yet. Can you wait a little bit longer?"

"Can the game wait? I _really_ want to unlock my— HEY!" Naruto had interrupted her by tapping her forehead with his right index and middle fingers.

"Sorry, little sister." He leveled a loving smile at her. "In a little while. I promise."

"F-Fine…" Weiss huffed with a crimson blush tinting her pale cheeks as she averted her gaze from her brother. "J-Just hurry it up!" And with that, she stormed out of the room as quickly as she arrived.

"My apologies General, Mr. Schnee." Apologized one of Ironwood's advisors. "I tried to stop her from interrupting, but she demanded that she see you, Mr. Schnee."

"It's alright." James said from his seat. "No harm done. You may go now."

"I must apologize on my sister's behalf as well." Naruto said as he seated himself once again. "I'm trying to break her of her impatience, which is, in turn, testing my own patience… it's a cruel cycle."

"At least you're trying to be a good big brother." James smiled as he moved his bishop to take Naruto's queen.

"What can I say? Winter set a good example for me." Naruto then suddenly clapped his hands together. "Alright, James! Since my little sister's decided to be impatient, I'm afraid I'm going to have to end this quickly."

"And how do you plan on… oh." James froze when Naruto moved his last remaining rook into position, putting his king into check. "That's how…"

 **(Gaia Academy Reception: Ten minutes later)**

"Another win for your big brother." Naruto gloated with a smile sent Weiss's way.

"You won't be smiling when you're stuck with me for the rest of the day, Naruto." Weiss huffed and sent a retaliatory indignant stare towards her big brother.

"Remind me to work on your attitude, as well as your impatience. At this rate, you'll never find a boyfriend." Naruto sighed in mock bitterness while leaning out of the way of a smack that was sent his way. "Also, you're still too slow, oh baby sister of mine."

"How dare you dodge my attack, you fiend?!"

"You tried to _slap_ me, Weiss." Naruto deadpanned. "That's not very nice you know." He added with a smirk while waggling his right index finger at her.

"Impetuous mongrel!" Weiss hissed in annoyance as she turned away from her brother, seemingly mad… then stared back at him through the corner of her eye with a genuine smile etched upon her features.

"You're still my Princess, little sister." Naruto returned the smile as he turned Weiss around to face him, his hands resting upon either of her shoulders. "And nothing in this world will ever change that."

"D-Don't just suddenly say things like that, you idiot!" The blush returned to Weiss's face as she looked down and away from her brother so as to not look upon his face, which was filled with nothing but love, a love which was directed at her. A love which she returned wholeheartedly, despite the things she may say or do to him.

"Can I not show my own little sister the love I have for her?" Naruto asked in mock hurt/defeat. "Oh your words sting at my soul, Princess!"

"J-Just get in the limo!" Weiss freed herself from Naruto's grasp and began marching towards said transportation. "We're going shopping!"

After chuckling to himself, Naruto was about to climb into the limo when an electronic ringing filled the air. Fishing around in his right pocket for his Scroll, he eventually found said object and withdrew it from its confines, accepting the call as he did so.

"Yes, Father?" He asked in a respectful tone.

Meanwhile, Weiss couldn't hear what was being said, but she knew that whatever their father had told him made Naruto very happy, evident when a smile spread across his face as his gaze shifted over to his sister.

"Happily, Father. We shall return home post-haste."

"What was that about?" Queried Weiss as her brother settled into the limo, in the seat to her right.

"Back to Castle White, please." Naruto said to the driver, then turned his attention back to his sister. "That, Weiss, was Father. And he has instructed me to take charge of your training. You're to start it early and I'm to both help you choose a weapon and to unlock your Aura."

"I'm to start my training early?" She asked in confusion, complete with a furrowed brow. "But it won't be long until I'm ready to attend Kronos Academy with both you and Winter."

"Just think of this as extra credit, Weiss. Plus, you get more quality time with your favorite sibling!"

"I never said you were my favorite…" She muttered with yet another light blush as she looked away from him.

"Well…" Naruto leaned back into the seat. "You're my favorite, that's for sure."

"Not true." Weiss countered. "I've seen how you and Winter interact with each other. Always smiling, nearly inseparable when you two are together." A twinge of jealousy was beginning to manifest in the youngest Schnee's voice. "She's your favorite and you hers. At best, you both probably view me as a hindrance to your skills and progression, maybe even to this family's name. I've always been either 'Naruto's sister' or 'Winter's little clone', never simply 'Weiss Schnee'." This time, a hint of sadness and frustration leaked into her voice.

"Weiss, stop." Naruto tried to counsel.

"I want to live up to the Schnee name; I want to live up to yours and Winter's reputations! I don't want to be some nobody destined to be a footnote in the history of the Schnee dynasty! I want to be someone important!"

"Weiss, I—"

Whatever Naruto was going to say was cut off by automatic rifle fire filling both the air and the windshield of their limo, killing their driver instantly. A horrified scream from Weiss was drowned out by the volume of fire and was only silenced when Naruto had the sense enough to push her down into the floor of the limo.

"Stay there, Weiss!" He ordered, his voice leaving no room for negotiation as he too sunk down into the floor until the weapon fire stopped.

Taking in a few deep breaths to calm himself, he mentally counted to three, and upon reaching three, he threw the door of the limo open and would have made a mad dash for the rear of the limo to retrieve whatever was in its trunk, but his world went black as a rifle butt was slammed right into his face, knocking him out cold instantly.

 **(Unknown Location: Unknown time later)**

"…to!"

He couldn't see.

"…ruto!"

He could barely hear anything. Was someone calling his name?

"Naruto!"

"Weiss?" He managed to croak out as his hearing began to return to him.

"Naruto, please! Please, please, help me! Get us out of here!" Weiss began to sob out now that she knew he was awake. She was on the verge of hysterics and though Naruto couldn't see her, he could hear it well enough.

"Calm down, Weiss." He said in the calmest voice he could muster, then as his feeling and spatial awareness began coming back to him, he could feel that he was nude from the waist up and his hands were bound above him to a chain which was attached to the ceiling of wherever they were at. "I need you to calm down for me, OK?"

"A-Alright… I'll try…"

"Now, what do you remember? Who kidnapped us?"

"A bunch of Faunus! It's the White Fang, I'm sure of it!"

This… was not good.

"I can't see anything, Weiss, they have me blindfolded. Can you see anything?"

"I'm blindfolded as well."

"Damn. And I guess they knocked you out as well?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"So, we have no idea where we are, we can't see anything and they probably have my weapon on lockdown somewhere…"

"All I remember is some redheaded guy with horns calling the shots before we were knocked out."

"Look, Weiss…" Naruto took in a breath. "Whatever happens here, you need to stay strong. Father is undoubtedly looking for us right now, as is James, considering we were ambushed on the way back from Atlas Academy. All we need to do is wait."

"I… I'll try, Naruto." Weiss weakly nodded.

"Well, it looks like our two prizes are finally awake." Came a voice from the door as said object was opened, though neither Naruto nor Weiss could see who entered. "Very good. Now we won't have to beat you until you wake up."

"Just who are you?" Naruto mustered up the courage to ask and for his effort was rewarded by a solid punch in the jaw.

"You will speak when spoken too, wretch!" Spat out a man with a slight accent.

"That's quite enough, Lieutenant." Mediated the first voice. "Besides, if you want to truly hurt a Schnee, you go for their throat!"

Gagging and heaving filled the air as Naruto was trying to recover from the fist that was driven straight into his throat by the first voice.

"That way they can't bark out orders to us 'animals'!"

"Stop it!" Weiss begged. "We've done nothing to you!"

"Nothing?!" The first voice snarled. "You enslave us, you spit on us, run us into the ground, treat us like third-class citizens, try to herd us onto our own little island and expect us to just roll over and take this abuse! Your rotten-to-the-core family has been the cause of most of our misery and pain! Well guess what, bitches?! It's time for a bit of payback!"

The abuse then began again, with Naruto taking the brunt of it in the form of multiple punches and kicks to various areas of his body. This went on for a full ten minutes before there was a pall in the beatings.

"Lieutenant…" The first voice called out. "Knife, please."

"What more could you do?! Please, just let us go!" Weiss once again begged.

"Take her blindfold off, Lieutenant." The first voice again piped up. "I want the bitch to see what I'm going to turn her precious big brother into!"

Promptly, the Lieutenant yanked Weiss's blindfold off and then forced her into a position where she had to watch what was about to happen. The first voice, now being recognized as a wolf Faunus, grinned with ill intent as he brandished the knife, his eyes glistening with barely contained wrath as he lightly tapped Naruto's left cheek with the tip of the weapon.

"You look a lot like a fox for some reason, Schnee!" Cackled the wolf Faunus. "And the last time I checked, foxes have whiskers! So, I wonder what your fucktard of a Dad will say when I send you back looking more like one of us?! Let's find out, shall we?!"

As the weapon began to dig deep into the flesh of Naruto's left cheek, a shrill scream escaped him as he yelled out the sheer pain he was feeling now, followed by a horrified scream from Weiss and her attempts to free herself or to get them to stop what they were doing. The wolf Faunus intentionally went slow, so as to draw out Naruto's pain and agony. Soon, one whisker was carved in and progress was started on the second.

Eventually, three symmetrical whiskers were carved into Naruto's left cheek and by the time the Faunus started on the right cheek, Weiss had gone hysterical, as now her screams were reduced to nothing more than inane gibberish, which was now dying down as she was going into shock, she was mentally shutting down from seeing her brother in so much pain, seeing so much of his blood gushing out of the disfiguring lines that were his whiskers which not even his Aura could help heal completely.

Finally, the torture came to an end when the sixth and last whisker was carved into his right cheek. Humming in satisfaction, the wolf Faunus let out one more cackle as he lightly smacked Naruto on one of his cheeks, making the boy flinch away, hissing in pain.

"You look better already, shithead!" The Faunus laughed, then rounded dangerously upon Weiss, bloody knife still in hand. "Now to pretty up this whore you call a Sister!"

"No…" Naruto managed to growl out, even though his voice was virtually gone from all the screaming he did. "Stay away…"

"Eh?! You plan on stopping me, fucker?! HUH?!"

"Stay away from her…" A sizzling sound then filled the room when steam seemed to leak out of the six whiskers and after a moment, they seemed to be closing, as if being rapidly healed. True to the suspicions, the grotesque wounds did indeed heal up, leaving behind six scars in the form of the previous gashes, which ironically enough _did_ indeed look like whisker marks.

After flexing his hands a bit, Naruto easily broke the steel bonds that were holding him to the ceiling and fell to his knees where, still blind, he managed to not only block a downward stomp from the Lieutenant, but threw the hulk of a man off balance, then drove him back first into the far wall after a powerful haymaker.

"So very weak you all are…" Naruto drawled, his voice now back to its normal octave. "Pitiful creatures of instinct and a perverted sense of righteousness, of justice." He then rose to his full height while clutching at his blindfold with his right hand, ignoring the audibly terrified wolf Faunus. "Your petty beliefs originate from the basis that you and you alone have suffered in this world when there are others out there who have it much worse… fools, every last one of you."

Naruto paused only to lift the blindfold from his eyes, which were shut. "You know nothing of pain; you know nothing of loneliness, of hatred, of sorrow, nor of what it means to be truly _alone_. Despised because of who and what you are. You are but mere children in your way of thinking and your ideology is nothing short of laughable. You choose to take out your insecurities on people you know can't fight back because you know that when it comes down to the wire… you all can be wiped out with just a snap of a finger…" With a smirk, Naruto snapped his own fingers as he slowly opened his eyes to reveal a fully matured Sharingan, its three tomoe spinning rapidly as he and the wolf Faunus locked gazes.

"No!" The wolf Faunus began to scream. "NO! NOOOO!"

"Drown in despair." Naruto's voice then took on a deeper, darker octave as his normal blonde hair began to darken at the tips, turning pitch black. "Let your mind be broken by my Genjutsu and wallow in your own fears for all eternity. Disappear and bother me no more."

As if on cue, the man's screaming came to an abrupt halt as he clattered to the floor foaming at the mouth, eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"Such a sloppy dance." Naruto clicked his tongue at the braindead Faunus as he blinked his eyes, his Sharingan disappearing back into his now coal black eyes as he did so. He then turned to his now unconscious sister and regarded her for a moment. "Weiss?" He asked, his voice now its normal octave once again. "Wei—" He would have repeated her name, but a sudden pull in his brain rendered him speechless and he began a quick descent to the floor.

His world went dark once again.

 **(Castle White: Some time later)**

"Ned!' Came a gruff voice. "Ned, he's waking up!"

"Owwwch…" Naruto groaned as he sat up in his bed. "Everything hurts."

"Take it easy, kid. You've been through a lot."

"Wait…" Naruto recognized that voice. "Uncle Qrow?"

"The one and only." Qrow sent a smirk down to his 'nephew'. "You and your baby sis were in quite the situation when I showed up, you're lucky I was in the area when the report went out that you and she were kidnapped. I carved my way through that base and when I got to your cell, I found a big guy who was all but hanging out of the wall, a man who looked like he died of a stroke and you and your sister both unconscious… I don't know how you freed yourself, but that's the only thing that saved you two."

"Y-You…" Naruto looked away from his 'uncle'. "You haven't said anything about these yet." He then gestured to his whiskers.

"I was just getting to that…" Suddenly, Qrow wrapped the boy up into a hug. "I'm sorry I didn't get there earlier, kid… I could have prevented this…"

"How's Father taking it? And Winter?"

"Surprisingly well." Qrow managed a sigh as he released Naruto from the hug. "Winter's worried to death about you and she's been beside your bed damn near constantly, it was all I could do to convince her to go get some fresh air."

"And Father?"

"He's… well… he's sworn to make whoever did this pay. He's began to crack down on the Faunus again for this, as he sees this as a personal attack. Don't know what the Fangs wanted to accomplish with kidnapping you and Weiss, but things will definitely get a LOT worse for the Faunus now that word is spreading about your torture and disfigurement."

"But that's not fair!" Naruto snapped. "The Faunus in general aren't responsible for this, he's punishing the many for the deeds of a few radicals!"

"That's why Taiyang and I are trying to talk him down from this. Hell, even James is getting involved now." At the mention of Taiyang, he saw that Naruto's mood had lightened a bit, but before the blonde could say anything, he interrupted. "Yes, Taiyang is here with me, but you've been confined to your bed until we know that all of your injuries have healed. Once you get the OK, _then_ you can go and see Yang and Ruby."

"Can you bring them to me?!" Naruto seemed to forget about everything that they were just talking about at the mention of his younger cousins.

"Why bother?" Qrow suppressed a chuckle. "They're already outside the door waiting for me to open it so they can tackle you back into another coma. I'm trying to save you here, kid." He sent a knowing smirk down to Naruto, who chuckled.

"Just let them in. After what I've been through, I need to see them."

"It's your funeral, kid." Qrow shrugged as he walked over to Naruto's door and promptly opened it. "Go get 'em."

"NARUTO!" Both Yang and Ruby cried out at once as they both ran into the room and, as Qrow said, tackled him while he was still in his bed.

"Pain! Everything hurts again! Regretting this decision!" Naruto managed to say through the two crushing hugs that his cousins were giving him, especially the one from Yang.

"We were scared, Naru…" Ruby pouted as tears threatened to spill over.

Naruto was concerned for Ruby, but it was Yang who got the most attention. The look in her eyes said it all: She was terrified of losing him, just like she was terrified of losing Ruby that one fateful night. Yang had eventually told him about that night and that was consequentially what forged the night unbreakable bond between them today.

"You're alright…" She breathed out. "You're alright." She repeated to herself so she could even begin to believe it.

"I'm alright." Naruto mirrored her words with a smile. "A bit worse for wear, but I'm alright."

"Good." Was all Yang said as she tightened her hug and buried her head into his chest, with Ruby doing the same thing for his abdomen.

"My girls…" Naruto managed a chuckle as he wrapped his right arm around Yang and his left around Ruby and simply held them as he slowly found himself drifting back to sleep.

 **(Mindscape: Same time)**

"You went too hard on those assholes." Naruto Uzumaki groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"The assimilation process was taking too long to begin with." Indra defended his actions. "And you were about to talk them to death, like you normally do. So, I gave you namesake reincarnation a bit of assistance."

"You forced the Sharingan into my new body before I was ready for it! Now I'm going to have black eyes and black highlights in my hair! And you made me sound too much like Madara back there for my liking! I'm already picking up some of Itachi's quirks as it is, don't exacerbate it!"

"Quit bellyaching about it, it's over with and now your body is more prepared than it was before. Your half of the assimilation is nearly done, which only leaves my half."

"Kurama!" Naruto yelled into a seemingly blank space in the white void that was his mindscape. "Back me up here!"

" **Oi!"** Kurama yelled back as his giant red form slowly materialized into existence. **"You better be thankful that I healed those injuries of yours! My own assimilation hasn't finished yet, so doing that much was taxing! Next time, don't get captured so easily, brat!"**

"They took me by surprise is all! Besides, I can't go around flaunting my power! As far as I know, I'm the only one who's been reincarnated, so I'm the only one who can use Chakra! I just can't go blowing things up for shits and giggles; this world isn't like the Elemental Nations!"

"All we're saying is that we're getting impatient." Indra attempted to reason. "Speed up the assimilations, get yourself to full power and stop holding back. This world needs a savior and you're it, kid."

"Doesn't mean that _I_ want to be a savior again…" Naruto muttered to himself as he broke the mental connections with his guests.

"I never wanted this…" Naruto sighed as he fell back into the white void and closed his eyes, letting it envelop him so the assimilation processes could continue.

"Never…"

 **AN: So, Naruto now has the Sharingan and has taken on a more Uchiha-like appearance, but still retains most of his 'Naruto-like' features. Hopefully you guys don't find the way I gave him his whiskers to be either disturbing or cliché, but it seemed like the thing to do given the situation. Next time, expect Naruto to prepare to go to Beacon for his Initiation and, as a consequence, a three year timeskip to just a year before RWBY's Canon timeline starts. And before you say it, I know there was a lack of Winter, but hopefully next chapter will make up for it.**

 **Also on the topic of pairings, I'm leaning more towards a Naru x Weiss pairing, but something could be said about Naru x Blake. What do you guys think? Continue building up the sibling romance or set up a controversial romance between Naruto and the girl who was involved with the very same organization that maimed him this chapter? Or should I focus more on Winter? What are your guy's thoughts on this?**

 **This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Chapter 3 is finally here, and this time packed with more Winter for those of you who missed her last chapter! Honestly, I like writing her. I may be speculating upon the personality she has under the whole strict sister thing, but I had fun writing her regardless! Fair warning, there will be a few soft/fluffy moments between Naruto and her this chapter, but it's to do nothing more than open up another possibility for me in terms of the pairing for this one. But enough! I humbly present chapter 3!**

Chapter 3: The Heir is Chosen

"Damn those eyes of yours…" Growled the one and only James Ironwood as he stared down at the chessboard in front of him, opting to ignore the ominous red glow coming from his opponent's eyes in the darkened office.

"Your fault for not banning my Pinwheel this time around." His opponent chided, amusement apparent in his smooth but even voice.

"As if you need your Semblance to beat me at this point." James noted as he moved a pawn up two spaces.

"Why do you think I'm stalling this game, James?" Again, amusement filled his opponent's voice.

"It's nearly midnight and we've been at this for an hour…" James sighed as he watched his opponent move a pawn of his own up. "You're not only dragging this out, you're milking me for all I'm worth at this point."

"Never challenge a Schnee to a chess match." The red glow from the man's eyes slowly shifted up from the chess board to James himself. "Least of all me, and definitely not my older sister."

"I thought you could beat Winter at this game, Naruto?"

In front of him sat Naruto Schnee once again, this time at a healthy seventeen years old. Ever since his run-in with the White Fang and the gaining of his scars, Ned had spent extra time, money and resources to optimize his personal security force and had spent more time and effort on both Naruto and Winter's training regimens, even though they were already enrolled into a Combat Academy. Now, three years later, Winter had graduated early from Atlas with top marks and was now proudly serving James as one of his personal guards and confidante while Naruto was preparing for his first year in Beacon Academy in a few days' time. His abrupt change in physical appearance had somewhat shocked the Schnee family, as well as Qrow, Taiyang and his daughters, but was soon written off as Naruto's Semblance manifesting itself due to the extreme conditions he found himself in during the spat with the White Fang, which, in turn, did nothing but exacerbate the racism within the Schnee family as a whole. Naruto, however, did not hate the Faunus. The White Fang, sure, but he understood that they alone were responsible for what happened and not the general Faunus population as a whole.

In the following three years, the integrations with Indra had completed while the integrations with Kurama had made significant headway, which in turn gave Naruto access to most of his previous body's power and abilities, but not all. One thing was for sure though… his fashion sense had improved dramatically.

He was currently sporting a white long-sleeved button up dress shirt that had the top few buttons unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up to the middle of his forearms, a black dress vest which was also unbuttoned and open, black casual dress pants which would have had the aforementioned shirt tucked into it and long hard white leather boots which stopped about mid-thigh and had the legs of his pants tucked neatly into them. Hanging from the coat hanger on the far side of the room was a black long-sleeved military-style jacket which seemed to be reinforced with some armor underlays and had six side-by-side pockets for utility (Think a Konoha Jounin's flak jacket but in the form of an actual jacket) and a white hooded cloak which had the Schnee family crest emblazoned in black upon its back and a red fabric inlay. Upon his right ring finger sat a signet ring which held the image of the Schnee family crest upon its face and around his neck sat a silver locket.

"Well, I would be playing her instead of you right now, but…" Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head while sparing a glance over his right shoulder to the far corner of the room and smiled lovingly.

Curled up on the couch in the far corner of the office was none other than Winter Schnee, dressed in her usual attire sans her long coat and white pants in place of her armored leggings(Basically what she's wearing right now in Volume 3 minus the coat and leggings). A soft snore escaped her as a passing cloud moved out of the way of the broken moon of Remnant, casting her in its pale glow.

"You know…" James smirked as he moved a rook into place. "That's a look that holds more than sibling love…"

"O-Oi!" Naruto stuttered as his attention returned to his friend and the game. "We're nothing but siblings! And she's already graduated and part of your personal entourage! Even if we weren't siblings, she's way out of my league!"

"How do you know?" James shot back, his smirk not faltering. "Have you ever tried admitting your feelings?"

"What feelings?! No feelings here!" Naruto denied with a vigorous shake of the head as he took the rook with his queen.

"My point exactly." James chuckled as he moved his own queen up. "And I believe that's checkmate."

"… Damn you and your distracting antics." Naruto grumbled as he stood to his feet with an indignant look. "Should have never deactivated my Pinwheel."

"Time for your bedtime it seems, little boy." James decided to rub in his victory just a bit and the response he got was a middle finger from Naruto as he walked over to the coat hanger and proceeded to slip on and zip up his jacket, then clasped his white cloak on.

"Hope you don't throw out your back, old man." Naruto returned the taunt with his own smirk, which he dropped as soon as he reached the still sleeping Winter. "Hey, Snowflake…" He softly whispered to her as he gently nudged her. "Time to get up, we're going home."

"Nharusho…" She sleepily slurred. "Too tired… carry me."

"Sometimes I feel like the older sibling, and this is one of those times." He sighed through a smile as he gingerly plucked her from the couch in a bridal carry and had to suppress a blush when he felt her nuzzle into his chest with a contented smile.

"She trusts you, Naruto." Came James's voice as he finished resetting the chess board. "She's all business with me and her subordinates, but as soon as you walk in, her armor lowers and her heart of ice melts. She only shows this side to you and no one else."

"And some days I wonder if I'm even worthy of this kind of trust. Weiss trusted me to protect her and we were kidnapped by the Fangs."

"And despite that little episode, she still trusts you implicitly, as you're still her older brother. But Winter? She's always trusted you and has always been there for you. Remember how worried she was after the Fang incident? She literally worried herself sick over you."

"Just what are you getting at, James?"

"I guess what I'm trying to say is… take care of her. She may put on a tough showing for me and the rest of Atlas, but this…" He gestured to the girl in question. "This right here is her true self and she's trusting you."

"I'll try my best, James." Naruto resigned. "I always have and I always will… especially when it comes to her." And with that, he took his leave.

 **(Castle White: Some time later)**

As Naruto trekked through the halls of his family's home, he noted the smiles adorning the faces of the maids and butlers he passed while still carrying Winter in a bridal carry. They were probably smiling because of the rosy tint to his cheeks because she was now lightly snoring once again and not at all at the fact that she was nuzzled so far into his chest she may as well have fused with him in some manner.

The trek was then ended when he finally made it to her room and promptly opened the door, then closed it behind him after walking in. He then made his way over to her bed and gently laid her upon it, missing the groan of discomfort from his older sibling as he did so.

"Alright, Snowflake." Naruto whispered to her as he pressed his lips to her forehead. "Sleep tight."

He had already turned on his heel and was about to open the door when he heard something mumbled.

"Winter?" He asked with a furrowed brow as he turned to her to see her piercing light blue eyes staring at him through the darkness of the room.

"Stay." She whispered back to him. "I only have a few more days with you. Please, Naru… stay with me, just for tonight."

"I, uhh…" The rosy tint returned to his cheeks and he thanked the Sage himself that she couldn't see it. "I have to meet with Father first, but…" He noted a twinge of desperation making their way into his sister's beautiful eyes… wait, beautiful? "A-After the meeting… I guess I could…"

"Thank you, Naru." She all but sighed out sleepily.

Before the situation could become even more awkward, Naruto let himself out of her room and rested against the door for a few moments to recompose himself before beginning the walk to his Father's office. Once there, he knocked on the door politely.

"Come in." Came Ned's voice through the door.

"You wanted to see me, Father?" Naruto asked respectfully as he unclasped his cloak and hung it upon a coat hanger.

"Indeed I did. Please, sit." Ned gestured to one of the seats in front of his desk, which Naruto sat in.

A pall of silence then befell the duo; the only noise being made was the crackling of the fire coming from the fireplace inside the study.

"Naruto…" Ned's voice broke the silence as he ran a hand through his white hair. "With you leaving for Beacon in a few more days, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Of course, Father." Naruto nodded. "Anything."

"What do you think of your sisters?"

"Well…" It was an odd question to ask out of the blue, but Naruto could sense an ulterior motive, so he would oblige. "Weiss is still a child in many ways, she's so used to getting her own way that she can be a bit abrasive when she's questioned by anyone that's not either me, you or Winter. She has a bit of a superiority complex because of the power behind our family's name, which goes back to what I said about her being abrasive when questioned or undermined, especially when it comes to her 'authority'. I've tried to work with her on improving her personality, but my efforts have been in vain."

"And Winter?" Ned once again pressed.

"Winter's a different story. She puts on airs for the sake of appearances, but her arrogance doesn't control her as it does with Weiss. She knows that she comes from a powerful family, but she hasn't let it go to her head so far. She's a prodigy and has already wormed herself into James's good graces. She's a natural fighter, she has full mastery over this family's Semblance, she's charismatic…"

"But?"

"But she can be reckless at times. She can be provoked into acting rashly, even during combat when a cool head is key. It's a trait both she and Weiss share, unfortunately, as they're both prideful about their abilities that it makes them think they're infallible. In short, Winter has more control of herself, but still lets her emotions take precedence over her common sense while Weiss is, for lack of a better term, spoiled and has been raised to think herself the end all be all."

"I see…" Ned hummed as he leaned back into his chair.

"If you don't mind me asking, Father, why did you want my opinion on my sisters?"

"I've asked others this very same question and they all have either shown favoritism to one or the other, or embellished their stories to the point where I couldn't tell if they were telling the truth or lying… so, I needed an honest opinion."

"And you asked me?" A bit of suspicion found its way into Naruto's tone. "Why?"

"Because…" Ned sighed as he leaned forward onto his desk. "I'm finally making a decision on who is to succeed me as the Schnee Family Head and CEO of the Schnee Dust Company. What you said about your sisters is true, I've noticed these faults myself, I just needed to hear someone confirm my own thoughts."

"So, who is it?" Naruto couldn't help but ask. "Weiss or Winter?"

"Neither." Ned answered honestly.

"Then who could…" Naruto blurted out, but then his brain caught up with what Ned said and a look of realization settled upon his face. "No…"

"Naruto, from tonight onward, you shall be my chosen heir to the Schnee name and fortune, if you should accept." Ned couldn't help but smile.

"Why me? I'm just a Schnee by name! Surely people would call my taking over a scandal!"

"And they might at that, but there's no denying that you _are_ my son. Albeit you are adopted, but you're my son nonetheless. I would choose Weiss, but as you said, she's arrogant and spoiled into thinking that she deserves the title."

"And Winter?"

"She's Atlesian Military through and through. I can't ask her to lay down her loyalty to the Kingdom in favor of the family. She's fiercely loyal to this family, but the Kingdom has always come first for her and it always will."

"I ask again: Why me?"

"You're honest, _very_ intelligent, kind, brave, a model citizen of Atlas, you graduated at the top of your class from Kronos Academy, you're a prodigy on par with some of the best Huntsman and you have the potential to surpass even your Uncle Qrow. You're charismatic, a natural talker. But most important of all? Your name hasn't gone to your head like it has with your sisters. You don't want to be my heir, which makes you the natural choice. Naruto, I know that you will do great things and bring prestige to this family not seen since my Father created the Company."

"Can I…" Naruto mirrored Ned's previous action and ran a hand through his black highlighted blonde hair. "Can I think about this overnight and give you an answer in the morning?"

"Please do. Take your time." Ned nodded as Naruto stood to leave. "But I _will_ expect an answer by tomorrow morning."

"Understood, Father." Naruto nodded as he exited the office and once again rested against the door. "The things I get myself into…" He said to no one in particular as he once again recomposed himself, then made his way to his room, where he changed into a white tank top and some black lounge pants, then walked back to Winter's room and entered… and blushed once again.

Sprawled out on her bed was Winter, wearing nothing but a black spaghetti strap camisole which contrasted nicely with her pale skin, as did her simple black panties. It wasn't Naruto's first time seeing her in a state of undress like this, but he still wasn't used to it.

" **You were married to that hot Hyuuga chick in your past life! You had** _ **kids**_ **with her for Kami's sake!"** Kurama's voice boomed in his Jinchuuriki's head. **"You've seen more skin than she's showing, kit! So stop being a bitch!"**

' _OI!'_ Naruto mentally shot back. _"That was a LONG time ago! Hina-chan and I haven't done anything like that in a very long time! And I'm a virgin once again, so lay off!'_

" **No, that's what you're supposed to do with the girl in front of you!"**

' _Lay off…? OH! NO! Fuck you, Kurama!'_

" **Not me, you idiot! HER!"**

' _Goddamn it!'_

"Naru…" Winter's soft voice brought him out of his mental argument. "Cold."

"I'm coming, Winter." He sighed out after cutting the connection with his Bijuu, then slid into bed next to her.

"What did Father want?" She asked as she snuggled into him for warmth.

"Opinions of both you and Weiss."

"What for?" She yawned.

"He…" Naruto paused only to blush at the feeling of her breasts being pushed nicely into his left arm as she hugged it. "He wants to make me heir to the company…"

"Take it." She instantly said, without hesitation.

"Why, though? You're the oldest and the better choice, in my eyes."

"Naruto." The firmness of her voice signaled that all signs of sleep were now gone and she was alert. "Take it. I don't want it and Weiss is nowhere near ready. You're perfect for the position. You're not a Schnee by blood, but I don't give a damn. You're my baby brother, you're my best friend…" She paused to run a hand over his scarred cheeks. "You've been through hell in a handbasket and come out a better person if that were even possible. You're all around amazing and I could think of no one better to lead the Company once Father steps down."

"You really think that much of me, Snowflake?" He asked and barely caught the tint of red adorning her cheeks at the affectionate pet name he had given her.

"That and so much more, Naru." She nodded with a smile. "My advice is to say yes. And my order as your superior officer is to say yes. Got that, soldier?" She playfully added as she laid her head upon his left shoulder.

"Understood, ma'am." He returned the gesture with a mock right handed salute and a foxy grin. "Any other orders?"

"Be a good pillow and don't move." She mumbled.

A comfortable silence then filled the room before Winter's light snoring filled the air once again, which brought a smile to Naruto's face. He leaned down and kissed her upon her forehead one last time before settling in himself, the sound of her snoring lulling him into a blissful sleep.

 **(The next day: 8:00 AM)**

"I accept." Naruto said, confidence evident.

"Not surprised in the least." Ned commented as he leveled a smirk at Winter, who was standing next to her brother. "Thank you for the intervention."

"I have no idea what you mean, Father." Winter waived it off with a knowing smirk.

"Of course you don't." Ned deadpanned. "Not like the maids walked in and found you two all but glued to each other."

"W-We just slept soundly, that's all." Naruto tried to defend himself and his sister.

"Of course." Ned waived it off with a suggestive tone in his voice. "Now, Naruto, the airship to take you to Vale will be leaving tonight, so I expect you to put your affairs in order today and tie up any loose ends you have here in Atlas."

"It goes without saying, Father." Naruto nodded.

"Oh, and at least spend some time with Weiss before you leave. She's going to have to go a year without you, after all."

"Naru and I were planning on spending the day together…" Winter began.

"But we can squeeze in some time for our baby sister." Naruto finished for her.

"Good. Winter, before you and he head out for your day together, do you mind running a message by Atlas Academy for me?"

"Not at all, Father." Winter shook her head, then took the sealed envelope from his hand and walked out of the office.

"And before you leave, let me say just this…" Ned began as his attention fell to his new heir. "I can see what's going on between you and Winter. I've known for a long time. Four years I've watched you two dance around each other and I'm up to here with it." He vaguely gestured to his forehead with his hand.

"F-Father, whatever could you mean?" Naruto weakly asked.

"I have no problem with any kind of romantic involvement between you two. You're not blood related, so it should cause no problems ethically. In fact, this could help strengthen your claim as my heir if you were to pursue her."

"I… I need time, Father." Naruto admitted. "This time away from her and Atlas will do me some good, it will allow me to work out my feelings and hopefully give me a chance to gather the courage to say something."

"I understand, son. I was the same way with Cat, God rest her soul." Ned sighed sadly at the memory of losing Catelyn six years ago. "Just know that you have my full support no matter what or who you choose."

"Thank you, Father." Naruto inclined his head in a bow.

 **(Castle White Courtyard: Hours later)**

"Too slow, Weiss!" Naruto called out as he swung his practice sword down onto his little sister, knocking Myrtenaster out of her hands, which opened her up for a straight heel kick, which sent her flying backwards into the dirt. "Concentrate! Keep your eyes on me and not your footing!"

"I'm TRYING!" Weiss shot back with fire in her eyes.

"If this is what you call trying, then you're never going to make it as a Huntress!" Naruto returned with equal heat. "I'm leaving for Vale in a few hours, so I wanted to get in one more practice session with you, but you're not up to your usual standard and it's pissing me off! Try, dammit!"

"Then how about you drop that training sword and use the Silver Sonata?! Get serious with me and stop toying with me! I'm not a kid anymore!"

"If that's what you wish, then very well!" Naruto then tossed the training sword aside and reached for the katana sheathed at his hip.

Said katana had black wrappings over a pure white ray skin, a silver pommel and a silver guard shaped into the Schnee family crest. Its sheathe was pitch black and also held a small Schnee snowflake carved into it in white right under a white crescent moon. Under the guard was a trigger which Naruto's right index finger was looped around. When he gave the weapon a tug and unsheathed it, the blade was revealed to be a pure silver color with a razor sharp edge.

Without warning, Naruto pulled the second trigger with his right middle finger and the blade separated into many smaller segments as if it were now a whip. He then swung the now identified snake sword and whipped it at Weiss, who barely sidestepped the attack, then dashed for her rapier, but was stopped when she felt the whip blade of Naruto's Silver Sonata wrap around her right ankle. With her Aura protecting her from any cuts, she tried to trudge forward, but it was at that moment when Naruto tugged and pulled her leg out from under her, sending her cluttering to the ground face first, still reaching for Myrtenaster.

The whip blade then untangled itself when Naruto suddenly pulled the trigger once again and with a rapid series of clinks, the blade pulled itself back together before he rushed forward and pressed the tip of his katana to the base of Weiss's skull just as her hand gripped the hilt of her rapier.

"You lose again, little sister." Naruto called out as he sheathed his katana and offered a hand to Weiss.

"… Why?" She asked, her voice a whisper.

"Why what?" Naruto asked quizzically, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Why did Father pick you?" She asked as she craned her head backwards and glared at her brother. "Why you?! Why not ME?!"

"Ah…" Naruto hummed as he withdrew his hand. "You've heard then."

"Of course I have!" She swiftly stood to her feet. "How could I not have heard that my dream has been crushed?! My goal was to be named heir so both you and Winter would recognize my development, but I'm still in your shadow!"

"Weiss, please…"

"I'm never going to be my own person, am I?! I'm never going to grow out of your shadows!"

"Weiss…"

"I am a _SCNHEE_! I deserve better than this! And to think that you were chosen over me is insulting! You're nothing but a pretender, not worthy of the Schnee name!"

"You don't mean that, Weiss…" Naruto cut in once again, his voice now dipping into a low growl as he took the verbal assault.

"How dare you talk to me like that?!" She raged, now beyond any rational thought. "How dare you take on the Schnee name when you're nothing more than a displaced orphan?! There's nothing special about you, so why has Father chosen you over me?! WHY?!"

"Because of this shit right here!" He finally shot back at her. "You act like this is your birthright and you act as if the Schnee name can get you everything and put you above the law! That's _not_ what this family's name means!"

"How dare—"

"You _WILL_ listen to this!" He snarled as his Sharingan sprang to life in all its glowing crimson glory. "You're too prideful; you're impatient, unable to accept the most minor of critiques! Everything has to be perfect for you, everything has to go your way, and when it doesn't, you throw a bitch fit and yell at everything until it's rectified, and when it isn't rectified, you throw an even bigger bitch fit and threaten to use our family's resources to punish whoever was responsible or whoever you think should be punished!"

He paused only to stare Weiss right in her eyes, their faces mere inches apart. "Guess what?! The whole fucking world doesn't revolve around you and being an insufferable bitch to everyone you meet won't earn you any friends! I've tried to correct these flaws in the past, but you never took to anything I ever said, so how about this: You will never amount to anything if you keep your current attitude and you will forever be the black sheep of this family while Winter and I keep growing. Shape up, or just give up on being a Huntress right now, because no one will ever look up to you or respect you otherwise."

"I don't need respect!" She fired. "I just need enough power to silence the voices that speak out against me! Everyone will respect me if I have power, and those that don't will just be drowned out by my supporters! Let them hate me, so long as they fear me!"

A resounding slap echoed throughout the courtyard as the youngest Schnee held a shaky hand against her beet red left cheek, eyes wide as saucers.

"Those are the words of every dictator that's ended up killed by the very people they ruled over." He began, his memories drifting back to his past life, to Sasuke and his plan for revolution and how Weiss's words mirrored his solution of ruling with fear and absolute power. "And this is why you are not the heir." Naruto spoke, his voice even and his eyes full of disappointment. "You are not the little sister I grew up with, no… you are someone who I am extremely disappointed in and ashamed to call a sister. I am leaving now, Weiss, and I pray that in a year, you've come to your senses. Until then…" He began walking away, only to turn and face her one last time. "You are no sister of mine."

With that, he turned once again and began walking away, oblivious to the tears that were now spilling out of Weiss's eyes as she replayed his words over and over in her head.

As Naruto made his way up the landing pad to the waiting airship, his bags in his hands, a small smile graced his features when he saw that Winter was waiting there for him alone, as their father was busy with company matters he figured.

"Be careful." She smiled and embraced him in a hug as he dropped his bags to return the hug.

"I'll be alright, Snowflake." He smiled back, tightening his hold on her reassuringly. "Besides, I'm always careful."

"You're tense." She noted. "What's wrong?"

"Weiss…" Naruto sighed as he pulled away from the hug to look at her. "She blew up about my appointment as heir, words were exchanged and I slapped her, then all but disowned her."

"And you think you've gone too far." She concluded. "You haven't. It's about time some form of action was taken and better you intervene than me. At least you're tactful about your punishments."

"Yeah." Naruto managed a slight chuckle. "If you handled it, we'd be on the market for a new baby sister."

The sounds of the airships engines revving got Naruto's attention as he chuckled once again and nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Get going." Winter smiled at him once again as she went in for another hug.

"I'll miss you, Snowflake." Naruto returned the second hug… but something held him there, made him not want to break contact with his sister.

"F-Father… gave me the same speech…" She suddenly said. "He approves… o-of… of us…"

"W-Winter…" Was the only thing Naruto was able to say because of the shock. "We don't have to…"

"I know…" He could practically feel her blush. "But… in the event that something _does_ happen between us, h-he… he approves. Will anything… ever happen?"

"I don't know." He said honestly. "Let me use this year to gather my thoughts." He removed himself to once again face her. "By the time Weiss comes to Beacon, I should have an answer for you."

"That… will suffice." She paused to collect herself. "I will also use this time to go over my own feelings. I admit that there's something there, but… I don't know what it is."

"Best to not confuse things, right?" Naruto offered, even though they both knew that there was indeed something more there.

"Precisely." She agreed after a hesitation.

Another rev of the engines was Naruto's signal to pick up his bags, which he did, and immediately filed onto his personal airship.

"See you when the year is up, Snowflake!" Naruto called out to her as the airship began to take off.

"Looking forward to it!" She called back.

As the airship lurched and began flying away from Castle White, Naruto didn't stop waiving at his sister until the castle was out of sight. After a heavy sigh, the attendants took his luggage for him and stowed it as he made his way to the luxury lounge that he had all to himself, and promptly took a bottle of scotch, opened it and took a swig straight from the bottle. This was gonna be a long flight indeed if he didn't get himself under control. After another swig of scotch, Naruto released one last heavy sigh as he settled into a chair, with thoughts of Winter filling his head and one overriding question floating above it all.

' _What am I thinking?'_

 **AN: So, what do you guys think of this one? Naruto being the heir to the SDC, his moments with Winter, how he handled Weiss? On that note, don't worry, his relationship with Weiss isn't totally broken, it's just that she touched a very sensitive nerve when she went on the whole power and fear tirade, and Naruto definitely doesn't want to see her go down that route. Overall, what do you guys think of the events of this chapter?**

 **On a different note, what do you guys think of the pairing? I know this chapter was heavy on Winter, but I'm considering Coco for the primary pairing to be honest. Coco's my favorite right now, with Winter right behind, so with that being said, what do you guys think? Coco? Winter? Weiss? Or maybe a Naruto x Coco x Winter threesome? Harem? Let me see your thoughts on the pairing!**

 **This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Here's Chapter 4! Finally, I managed to finish it. Hope you guys enjoy, because I had fun writing this one, especially near the end of the chapter. New characters are introduced this chapter, but I shan't spoil it! ONWARDS!**

 **Chapter 4: Initiation Begins!**

"Hey, isn't that the adopted Schnee?"

"Yeah, I think it is!"

"He's even hotter in real life!"

"I heard that he's the SDC's heir now! And it just happened recently!"

Such was the conversation that Naruto had the misfortune of eavesdropping on as he tried his best to ignore the eyes that were on him, including the two girls who were sitting at the bar across from him. It was the night before his first day at Beacon and he decided to try and unwind a bit before handing over his entire life (second one, really) over to the world's military that was the Hunter's Association. In a lapse of judgment that he was now suffering through, he decided to unwind in a local club called Junior's, where he found, much to his chagrin, a whole host of single, desperate gold diggers, floozies and outright sluts… but that was not to say that the entire host of women were like that, oh no.

"This must be flashback central for you." Came the voice of a girl to Naruto's right. "My condolences." She added with a hint of humor tinging her voice.

"It isn't that bad." Naruto shrugged and took a swallow of his bourbon, which was on the rocks. "Compared to my old life after I helped defeat Kaguya, that is."

"Don't remind me. I was there, remember?" The girl groaned as she, too, sipped on her on the rocks rum. "I had to beat back all of the gold diggers with a stick in our past lives just so you could have a happy ending with Hinata. I don't want to do it again in this world."

"Hopefully, you won't have to. And hopefully with my reincarnation, whatever evil that was out there's bitched out and I can just live my second life."

"Why do you think the Sage would send me back as well?" The girl challenged. "Something's out here and he deemed it necessary for you and I to be brought back."

"Still surprised that I'm not the only one." Naruto then sipped on his drink again. "Are there any others?"

"None that I know of." The girl admitted with a sip of her own drink. "Would be helpful, but I'm sure that the two of us can take on whatever the universe will throw at us this time around."

"No one I'd rather have watching my back." Naruto toasted his friend.

"Here's to our second lives." The girl accepted the toast with a smile.

After downing the rest of their drinks and calling for another round, Naruto cut his eyes to his right and smirked upon seeing his chance.

"You know…" He began with a smirk. "I'm glad to see that you weren't cursed this time around. I can actually see your boobs!"

"Naruto…" The girl growled. "You just ruined a good moment…"

"Sorry, Sakura-chan…" He apologized in Japanese, then continued his sentence in the same language. "I couldn't pass it up."

"And you've come down with a horrid case of pink eye in this second life, Naruto." Sakura replied in Japanese and with a smirk, referring to Naruto inheriting the Sharingan through Indra.

"Hey, I didn't ask for the Sharingan." He defended. "I was all but born with it."

"And you used it for chess? Oh, if Sasuke-kun were here, he'd probably be trying to rip you apart right about now for misusing your eyes."

"Speaking of Sasuke, do you think he's been reincarnated as well?"

"I doubt it. From what the Sage told me before I was reincarnated, he seemed to think that you would have been more than enough. He said that throwing you both back into the conflict wasn't necessary yet."

"And he also thought that nothing bad would happen if he stayed impartial during the whole Asura/Indra feud and look where THAT ended up." Naruto scoffed and sipped on his now full glass once again.

"I see you've also inherited some of the Uchiha cynicism as well." Sakura giggled. "Maybe he didn't reincarnate Sasuke-kun because you alone have become an amalgamation of both of your personalities."

"Laugh it up." Naruto smirked at his pinkette drinking buddy, then cut his eyes at her again as she drank.

Her pink hair was as short as it was when they were both 17 in their old lives and her emerald green eyes still shone brilliantly. He noted that she had already remastered her Byakugo no In (Strength of a Hundred Seal), as it was displayed in a bluish diamond in the center of her forehead. She was currently wearing a short-sleeved maroon red t-shirt which clung to her frame and had the Haruno clan symbol sewn upon the back in white, plus multiple images of sakura flower petals splashed on the front of it, all colored white. Slate grey jeans were tucked into a pair of knee-high black leather boots, a utility belt was secured around her waist and upon her hands sat a pair of fingerless black gloves underneath two silver bracers. Chain mesh segments covered her elbows and a hooded maroon red jacket that had white highlights topped off her ensemble.

"They're high C-cups." Sakura nonchalantly said with a large swig of her drink.

"W-What?!" Naruto began to sputter. "What the hell?!"

"I saw you checking me out, Naruto." She teasingly winked at him. "We'll just keep this our little secret. Hinata doesn't have to know."

"… What. The. Hell." He repeated in a deadpan tone, now reverting to English. "Either you're drunk or something got screwed loose up here during your assimilation." He finished, gesturing to his head.

"Oh, nothing's been screwed loose… yet." She slurred out with another wink.

"… Yep, definitely drunk." Naruto concluded with a nod. "Who knew that you were a horny drunk, Sakura?"

"Hey, babe…" One random man cut in on the conversation and squeezed himself between Naruto and Sakura. "How much for a night?"

"A fist in your face if you don't leave." Naruto growled to the man. "Now."

"Ohoho!" The drunk guffawed, turning to Naruto. "We have a pretty talkative Schnee here! Watch out, everyone, we got a badass over here!"

"Leave." Naruto growled again as he stood.

"Calm down, Naruto." Sakura chimed in as she stood from her stool, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face… a smile that Naruto knew all too well. "I'll entertain the man."

"See? Your bitch ain't really your bitch, Schnee!" The drunk declared in triumph, then turned to Sakura once again… except he turned right into a punch which sent him flying all the way across the club and into the back wall.

"Anyone else?" She asked innocently to the rest of the club, brandishing her now deployed bracers, which covered both of her arms up to the elbow in silver metal and covered her hands up to the knuckles. The metal was reinforced at the wrists and seemed to have four blade-like protrusions jutting out of the forearms.

Wisely, the other potential assholes who were previously eyeing her backed off.

"Good choice!" She chirped and promptly transformed her gauntlets back into their bracer forms, then sat down and began drinking as if nothing happened.

"Interesting weapons." Naruto complimented. "They suit you… and they also remind me heavily of my little cousin Yang…"

"Does she have similar weapons?" Sakura asked with another sip.

"Yeah." He nodded and sipped his own drink. "Her gauntlets are yellow instead of silver, and they're shot gauntlets she's named Ember Celica."

"I'll have to meet her at some point. Possibly test Thorn out against her own gauntlets." Sakura then gestured to her bracers. "That's their name, by the way. Thorn."

"A pretty flower being defended by her thorns… fitting." Naruto chuckled and shook his head… and then realized that he had complimented Sakura again.

"I didn't know you thought I was pretty, Naruto." Sakura smirked; now back into her horny drunk persona. "Whatever would Hinata say if she found out you're hitting on another woman?"

"I thought this would be our little secret, Sakura." He decided to return the tease with a knowing smirk.

"So bold." She noted with a slur. "Getting laid and having a family really did wonders for you."

"I'm a virgin again in this world, Sakura. I haven't broken this new body in yet. The right girl hasn't come along…" He then stopped to ponder his wording. "Save for one, but… I'm not so sure about her yet."

He waited for a response, but got none.

"Sakura?" He finally asked as he turned to face her, only to find her passed out on the bar. "Dammit…" He muttered as he stood, paid both of their tabs and promptly collected his pinkette friend.

After carrying her out of the club, he made his way to the parking lot of the establishment and promptly slipped her into the passenger seat of his car, which was a Pegassi Zentorno which he had custom ordered from the company. It was painted a deep black and had red highlights. Once she was secured within the confines of the supercar, he started it up and pulled out of the parking lot, his destination being his apartment.

About ten minutes into the ride, an electronic ringing filled the cab of the car, and with a press of a button, Naruto answered the call with a smirk, as the heads-up display upon the windshield told him who it was.

"Snowflake." Naruto answered, his smirk not faltering.

"Don't make me blush, Naruto!" Winter sharply whispered to him. "I'm sitting here with General Ironwood!"

"What? You don't want your boss to see just how red I can make you go?"

"Not now!" Her tone slipped into a bit of a whine.

"Fine, fine." Naruto managed a chuckle. "How are things in Atlas?"

"Decidedly boring, without you around." Winter admitted with a sigh. "The Company's doing as well as can be expected."

"Any fallout from me being named the heir?"

"A few mutterings of discontent, but nothing major. In fact, the Board actually agrees with Father on his decision."

"The Board's on my side?" Skepticism laced his words. "Majority?"

"By a landslide. The Board _really_ favors you, Naruto."

"And…" He hesitated. "How's Weiss?"

A pause.

"Winter?"

"… She's fine. Locked herself in her room for the past three days, though. All she said was that she needed time."

"James isn't visiting Castle White by chance, is he?"

"Sadly, no, or I would hand my Scroll off to Weiss so you could talk to her. I'm trying my best to bring her back down to earth, though."

"Part of me regrets doing what I did." He paused to sigh. "But another part of me is saying she needed it."

"She did need it, so you shouldn't feel guilty."

A comfortable silence then befell the two, with the sound of the Zentorno's engine and Sakura's light snoring being the only sounds made.

"And how are you doing, Snowflake?" Naruto finally asked.

"I'm fine… I just wish that you were here."

"Miss me already, eh?"

"From the very moment you left."

"Quit worrying about me, Snowflake, I'll be fine."

"I can't help but worry, though. Your Initiation is two days from now, and if Beacon's Initiation is anything like Atlas's, then I have every right to worry."

"Five hundred Lien says I make it through." His voice was teasing.

"The General and I take that bet." She said after a pause and a giggle.

"Tell James to be ready to transfer his half to my account." Naruto shared in the laugh.

"It's good to hear your voice again, Naruto." Winter sighed. "And I'm sure I've taken up enough of your time."

"If it's you taking up my time, I don't mind." Naruto couldn't help but smile at the heads-up display, despite it being blank with a timer telling him how long the call had been going on.

"Y-You're talking as if you've made up your mind already…" She failed to hide her stutter. "H-Have you…?"

"I…"

' _Yes! YES! Yes, say yes you fool!'_ His conscience all but screamed at him.

" **Say yes right now, kit!"** Kurama bellowed. **"Y-E-S! YES!"**

"I don't know…" His voice faltered.

' _You're a goddamn failure, Naruto Uzumaki!'_ His conscience screamed at him once again.

'… _Foolish boy.'_ Indra chastised him.

" **I'M GONNA SLAP A BITCH!"** Kurama all but raged at the top of his voice, which served to give Naruto a headache.

"… I-I see…" Was all Winter could say before she cleared her throat. "I've taken up too much of your time, Naruto; I'll let you go now."

"Yeah." He sighed in defeat. "Goodbye, Winter." He said just as he heard the other line go dead. "I'm an idiot…"

" **You sure are! And I'm gonna smack you the next time you come into your mindscape!"** Kurama once again bellowed.

"You really should say yes." He heard Sakura say, then turned to find her smiling at him. "I can tell, even if I haven't met her, that you two really love each other."

"There's a reason I'm taking my time." Naruto closed the HUD and pulled into the parking lot of an apartment complex."

"And that is?"

"My little sister."

"Weiss?" Sakura asked with a furrowed brow. "What about her?"

"She… she's Hinata's reincarnation."

"W-What?" Sakura gaped. That little piece of information was not what she was expecting.

"I can sense Hinata's soul within her. I've been able to sense it ever since I began to dabble with my Sage Mode variants. When I first went into my Toad Sage Mode, I sensed that something was off about Weiss's Aura. It was only when I began trying to access my Six Paths Sage Mode that I got the full picture. I was only able to enter that Sage Mode once, and when I did, I sensed her, trapped within the confines of Weiss's soul. Weiss was supposed to be her new body, but Weiss's soul was just too much for Hinata to work with, so instead of her assimilating Weiss, Weiss assimilated her."

"And you're hoping that you can somehow draw Hinata out of Weiss, given enough time." Sakura reasoned.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded as he turned off his Zentorno.

"You do realize that if Hinata is drawn out, then Weiss herself will die, right?"

"… Yes." Naruto nodded once again, this time a more grim tone to his voice.

"So you would sacrifice your little sister in a vain attempt to get your wife from a past life back? You would _kill_ her to regain the love you once had?" Sakura's tone slipped down into a dangerous tone as her emerald eyes bore into Naruto's coal black orbs.

"Yes." He said once again, without hesitation.

"You son of a bitch." She spat. "You aren't the Naruto I once knew. The Naruto I knew died a long time ago. The Naruto I knew wouldn't kill an innocent person who has done nothing wrong for his own gain. This Naruto is a person that Hinata would be deeply disappointed in."

"Not as a first option, mind you." Naruto tried to defend himself.

"And you think that makes it better?!" She finally yelled. "Naruto, you blind little idiot! From what you've told me, both of your sisters are madly, hopelessly in _LOVE_ with you! _BOTH_ of them!"

"W-What…?"

"Don't you see?! Hinata's pure and true love for you _HAS_ lived on through Weiss! And you're sitting here contemplating killing her when you know damn well that if you kill her you also kill Hinata?! What the actual fuck's gotten into your head?!"

"Sakura, I—"

"Don't answer!" She snapped at him once again as she opened the door and climbed out of his car, her anger drowning out the effects of the alcohol in her system. "And don't talk to me for the rest of the night! I'm gonna get a separate room here at your hotel and I'm gonna go to sleep! And when tomorrow comes, you better have rethought your actions!"

Before Naruto could retort, the pinkette stormed off, leaving him sitting within the confines of his car.

"Maybe something _is_ wrong with me…" He mused after a pause, then sighed. "Hagoromo-jiji, why… oh, why did you have to pull me back in?"

 **(Beacon Academy: Next Morning)**

To say things were tense between Naruto and Sakura on the ride up to Beacon was an understatement. Neither said anything to the other, and only spared minor glances towards each other. Finally, the airship lurched and landed on is designated pad, then the doors swung open.

"I'm sorry." Naruto finally said as the duo began their trek towards the Academy proper.

"You damn well better be." Sakura huffed as she directed a light glare at him. "You went a bit crazy last night, and I'm not sure if you were serious or if it was the alcohol. Either way, last night… it nearly took us to a dark place."

"Sakura, we've been to darker places than last night and come out unscathed." Naruto chuckled, then leveled his trademark smirk at her. "We'll be able to get through anything together."

"Careful, Naruto." Sakura returned the smirk with a playful shove. "Sasuke might be watching us right now."

"Let him watch." Naruto waived her blatant teasing off. "You're like a sister to me, you always have been. And if he gets jealous because of how close we are, then I'll just fight him as many times as he wants once I return to the afterlife."

"Hopefully that's no time soon." She added. "I want to see what this new world has to offer."

"Well, aren't you two a sight for sore eyes?" A female voice called out to them.

"Huh?" Naruto turned around, and upon seeing the girl who had called out to them, smiled. "Tenten! Ino!"

"Naruto!" Ino squealed as she ran right up to him and hugged him, then hugged Sakura.

"You two as well, huh? HEY!" He exclaimed just as Tenten glomped him just like Ino had done prior.

"Yep!" Tenten giggled as she released him from the hug. "We just met up on the way in, didn't know you two had made it here either!"

Once the duo of girls had finished their glomping session, Naruto had a moment to take in the two girls appearances.

Tenten had her long brown hair done up into her famous twin buns and she was wearing a Chinese-style sleeveless red shirt that modestly hid her rather immodest 36C's and had gold trimmings and two images of stylized dragons running up both her sides and ending just over her heart, in gold. Black cargo shorts adorned her lower half, as well as reinforced black toeless sandals, white wrappings around her ankles and both of her hands up to just under her elbows, a golden sash tied around her waist underneath a black leather utility belt and a red scarf wrapped around her neck which trailed behind her for about a foot.

Strapped diagonally across her back was a jian, which was held in a black sheathe and had gold wrappings over the hilt and gold dragon etchings within the sheathe itself and strapped to her lower back was a tanto which shared the gold wrappings and etchings of its jian counterpart.

Ino had her platinum blonde hair tied up in her single ponytail and was wearing a tight purple short-sleeved t-shirt which had white flower petal designs scattered all over the place and clung tightly to her frame, doing nothing to hide her 34D's from the world. Black faded jeans were ripped at the knees and were tucked into a pair of hardened black leather shin-high heeled boots. Around her waist was a belt which had only two slots, which were both filled, and plenty of ammo storage, around her neck was a silver chain necklace which had a purple crystal hanging from it, fingerless black gloves adorned her hands, as did armguards upon her forearms, and to top off her ensemble, she wore a black leather jacket that had the same white flower petal designs as her shirt and a black choker around her neck.

Within the two slots of her belt sat two extended blade tantos on either of her hips, and both were wrapped in purple wrappings and sat within black sheathes.

"Helloooo~!" Tenten waved her hand in front of Naruto's face. "You all there, Naruto?"

"He did this to me the first time he saw me as well." Sakura shrugged with a chuckle. "Guess it's been so long since he's checked either one of you out."

"S-Sorry…" Naruto muttered as he looked away from the duo and nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Don't be!" Ino chirped with a smile. "It lets us know that our new bodies can still turn heads!"

"Speaking of turning heads…" Tenten gestured to a bespectacled brown haired girl, who had just lowered her sunglasses at the sight of Naruto. "You have an admirer, Naruto." She snickered.

"She must know that I'm a Schnee…" Naruto groaned as he facepalmed. "Well, time to go nip this in the bud."

"Twenty Lien says she's a gold digger." Ino smirked as Naruto walked off to deal with the situation.

"Fifty says she's not." Sakura joined the betting pool.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Naruto called out to his admirer, who rounded upon him. "I couldn't help but notice you staring at me." He began in a professional tone, drawing off of his etiquette lessons.

"Is it wrong to admire something that I like?" She asked as she lowered her glasses again to reveal milk chocolate orbs that matched her hair.

"Not at all." Naruto shook his head. "But when it comes to _me_ , however…"

"You're not an easy catch." The girl finished for him with a nod. "Neither am I, Lord Schnee." She finished and flashed him a smirk.

"So, you _do_ know who I am." Naruto concluded. "And I'm to assume you're admiring me because of my name?"

"On the contrary." It was her turn to shake her head. "I'm admiring you because you look good, simple as that… also, because you're wearing some top notch clothing."

"You like clothes?"

"Clothes, shopping, modeling, the whole nine yards." She nodded. "In my spare time, I do some modeling myself, actually."

"Well…" He raked his eyes over her form. "You certainly have the build for it."

"Flatterer." She giggled and batted her eyes at him, then extended her right hand. "Coco Adel."

"Naruto Schnee." Naruto took her right hand into his, then kissed it. "A pleasure, Miss Adel." His black eyes flashed with mischief.

"Not yet, My Lord…" Her chocolate orbs reflected the same mischief. "Definitely not a pleasure yet…"

"Well, we could change that very soon…" He then let go of her hand and turned his back to her. "But I'm still not that easy of a catch, Miss Adel." Despite his back being turned to her, he knew she could all but hear the smirk plastered across his face at the moment.

"Neither am I, My Lord Schnee." He knew she was smirking as well. "Make it through whatever tomorrow's Initiation will be, and we'll see."

"Until then." Naruto threw a wave over his shoulder as he walked away.

"Holy. Shit." Ino said, her cheeks tinted a very bright red, a tint that was reflected upon his other two girls who happened to be his friends.

"What?" He asked as the four began their walk to the amphitheater.

"You _really_ know how to play the game now, don't you?"

"Growing up with an influential family this time around did wonders for me, it seems." He shrugged.

"N-Never do that again!" Sakura all but squeaked. "At least not around me!"

"I wouldn't mind it…" Tenten whispered to no one in particular.

"Bullshit, Forehead!" Ino shouted at her old friend/rival, ignoring what Tenten said completely. "Naruto's welcome to do that _any_ time! That's some quality entertainment!"

"I'm absolutely thrilled that I'm able to put on an acceptable show for you, Miss Yamanaka." Naruto sarcastically said as he and the four girls took their spots in the crowd.

"You can put on a show for me _anytime_ , Lord Schnee." She all but purred at him.

"Good to know that you're still a huge flirt." He chuckled just as the amphitheater quieted down as Ozpin took his place upon the stage.

"Welcome to Beacon Academy." He said, then adjusted his glasses. "Each and every one of you here has earned the right to stand within these great and hallowed halls, just as generations of Huntsmen and Huntresses before you have done, and for just making it here, I applaud you." He paused to take a breath. "But at the very same time, I warn you: You all have made a choice that few even dare to think of making, and because you have made the decision to attend my Academy, I must know who among you can live up to your lofty aspirations and who among you we must save from making a terrible mistake." Another pause for a breath. "For the sake of time, I shall keep the rest of this brief. Within twenty four hours, we shall be holding your Initiation, and it is that grand stage which shall judge you ready. Regardless of the outcome, I nevertheless welcome you humbly to Beacon Academy and I also wish you good luck for tomorrow's trial. Good day."

"Please report to the ballroom, as they will be your temporary quarters for the evening." Glynda spoke into the microphone after Ozpin had exited the stage.

"Well, he's a happy individual, isn't he?' Ino snidely remarked.

"Hopefully he'll lighten up." Naruto shrugged. "Initiation _is_ a sensitive subject, after all."

"Why's that?" Tenten asked as they filed into the ballroom.

"People are going to die. Simple as that."

The grim tone in Naruto's voice effectively shut down the entire conversation, so the girls ran off to change into their pajamas while Naruto, instead of changing into his own pajamas, made his way outside of the ballroom and leaped the entire height of the building up to the roof in order to get a good look at the sunset.

All he did was sit there, hunkered up in a corner, and just watched the orange hues paint the sky until black bled into the sky and the broken moon of Remnant replaced the sun. He took in a breath of the crisp night air as his gaze shifted from the moon to the blanket of stars in the sky. He let a smile grace his features, then sensed that someone was coming up to join him.

"Ino and Sakura are sleeping like rocks." Tenten stated in Japanese, as she thought it was appropriate to use at the moment. "And I was bored, so I decided to join you up here."

"Can't sleep?" Naruto responded in Japanese as he took in her appearance once again, now that she was wearing her pajamas.

Her choice in nightwear consisted of an oversized red t-shirt which had a single black dragon curled upon itself within the center of her chest, right between her breasts, and black lounge shorts. Her brown hair was down and reached down to about her shoulder blades, with a couple of strands framing her face and falling in between her eyes and her brown eyes reflected the light of the moon and stars very nicely.

"Not really." She shrugged. "Besides, I actually share your hobby, it seems."

"Stargazing?"

"Yeah." She nodded, then sat down next to him and laid her head back upon the cool stone of the corner she and Naruto were now sitting together in. "It's a hobby I took up during our former lives."

"Same with me." Naruto sighed. "I was so busy with being Hokage that I couldn't even make it home some nights, and whenever I had some time off, it was nearly always during the night when something else would always pop up that demanded my attention. It got to the point where I'd unwind by just stargazing and sipping sake."

"It was the same with me and my weapons shop." She lightly giggled. "It was open nearly 27/7, since I serviced both civilians and Shinobi alike. I all but lived in my shop, and whenever I got some downtime, I immediately went on break, had one of my interns take over, went to the roof and just stared up into the heavens."

"The Hokage's Tower had the best view in all of Konoha, I think."

"It did." She nodded. "Remember that big shipment of your Tou-san's (Father's) kunai you ordered that one night?"

"The one that took forever to arrive?" Naruto asked after a chuckle. "I remember." He nodded with a smile.

"The very same one that my people ended up dumping all over the reception area's floor." She also giggled at the memory. "I apologized to you profusely and ended up spending the entire day helping with the cleanup. I spent that entire night on top of your tower drinking sake and stargazing." She then sighed. "Best view in the entire village."

"Of course, that was before we had an extension to the village built on top of Hokage Rock."

"That was the moment that everyone knew Konoha was a bonafide city and not just a village."

"I miss the place." Naruto sighed. "I miss our old lives."

"So do I." Tenten admitted. "Sometimes, at least."

And that was the last thing said between the two companions as they shifted their gaze upwards once again. They spent what felt like hours on the roof together, and it probably was, because the next thing Naruto felt was Tenten's head nuzzling itself into his left shoulder. Glancing to his left and smiling at the sleeping girl, Naruto decided not to wake her, as she needed her energy. A short time later, the sun was beginning to rise and as light bled back into the sky, Naruto lightly roused his companion.

"Come on, Tenten." He softly whispered to her in English. "Wake up, its morning."

"Morning?" She asked in English also. "Oh… Initiation. Right." She groaned as she removed her head from his shoulder and stood, stretching as she did so.

"My left arm's asleep, by the way." He nonchalantly said as he, too, stood. "Thank you for that." He shot a smirk at her.

"Sorry!" She apologized with a light blush tinting her cheeks.

"Better get downstairs and change." He waived her apology off as feeling began to return to his arm. "Meet you all at the gathering point."

"You already know where it is?" She asked, brow furrowed.

"I sent a couple of Shadow Clones out last night to scout out the place, so I already have this place memorized… more or less."

"You _SO_ have to teach me that Jutsu!" She sent a light indignant glare at him.

"Just go and get changed." Naruto chuckled as he dropped off of the roof of the ballroom and began his light jog to the cliff side.

"Mr. Schnee." Ozpin greeted him as he was the first one to show up.

"Professor." Naruto nodded to the bespectacled man. "Nice day for an Initiation."

"Indeed it is." Ozpin returned the nod. "I look forward to seeing Minato and Kushina's son in action. From what James has told me, you're a prodigy on par with your Uncle."

"General Ironwood gives me too much credit." Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head after a chuckle.

"Regardless, I wish you luck today, Mr. Schnee."

It was at that moment that the rest of the hopefuls showed up and took their places upon the metal springboards.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors…" Ozpin began, seeing as everyone was now in position. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors surrounding the assignment of teams." Glynda began to explain. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." Ozpin's voice hushed the murmurs of discontent. "So it is in your best interests to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"Should be fun." Naruto chuckled as he cracked his neck.

"Finally, we get to cut loose!" Sakura slammed a fist into her hand with a smirk.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the Forest." Ozpin once again silenced the crowd. "You will meet opposition along the way. Don not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you _will_ die."

"Alright, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto whispered to Sakura, who chuckled at the Headmaster's expense.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your Initiation, but our instructors will not intervene." Ozpin continued. "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. Are there any questions?"

One inconspicuous rabbit Faunus raised her hand. "Sir?" She asked, her voice having an accent. "What will our landing strategy be?" Her voice lowered slightly when she realized that she was now being stared at.

"Your own." Ozpin nonchalantly said as the springboards began launching the hopefuls into the Forest.

"But that doesn't seem FAAAAIIIIIIIRRRR~!" She screamed as her board launched her into the horizon.

"Let's get it on!" Ino declared as she was launched.

"WAHOOOO~!" Tenten screamed as it was her turn to be launched.

"SHANNARO!" Sakura declared as she got launched.

"Time to kick it up a notch!" Naruto yelled as he kicked off of his springboard just as it launched him.

Initiation had officially begun.

 **AN: Sakura Haruno, Tenten and Ino Yamanaka… I'm an evil person for introducing those three as possible love interests. Speaking of, my mind is made up on at least one front: Winter will definitely make it in, but here's my question to you guys: Should it be Winter and Weiss, Winter only, or Winter and Weiss plus a third girl? And if there's a third girl, who should it be? Sakura? Ino? Tenten? Coco? Hell, even Velvet or maybe Blake? Let me know, guys!**

 **Also, what do you guys think about the twist with Weiss being Hinata's reincarnation? I personally thought it was a good twist, but I want opinions on this as well. Later!**

 **This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I apologize! I apologize for being so late with this one! Fact of the matter is, I wrote and rewrote this update countless times, so I hope this result is satisfactory. With that long wait, I have a feeling you all are anxious to read this next chapter, and I shan't keep you! ONWARDS!**

 **Chapter 5: Initiation and a Sunflower**

It was a picture perfect day within the Emerald Forest. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, and as one of these birds began its morning flight, it was suddenly and violently struck down by a blur of white and black.

"GAH! Son of a bitch!" Naruto cried out as he frantically began ridding his face of the feathers of the now very dead bird before he began his descent into the trees… too late.

"Nononononono, SHIIIIIIIIT!"

Crack!

Crack!

 **THUNK!**

Here, after breaking through a few tree branches, could we find Naruto currently planted face first into a rather large tree.

"Goddamn birds…" He muttered as he pried himself from the tree. "Sorry, Ruby, but after today, I can't share your enthusiasm for these things…"

After shaking himself off and straightening his cloak, Naruto took in a deep breath and closed his eyes as he knelt and pressed his right finger to the surface of the branch he was standing on. Immediately, a rough outline of the surrounding forest lit up within his sub consciousness, followed by faint blips of blue as the hopefuls landed in the forest one by one. Following these blips, Naruto focused on his sensory skills just a bit more and three other blips of blue showed up, these blips belonging to Sakura, Ino and Tenten.

"Sakura's to my west…" He began mumbling to himself, mentally taking note of their positions. "Ino's to my south and Tenten's just north of me… I wonder who I'll run into first?"

Withdrawing his finger from the tree and standing to his full height, he took in one last breath and dropped down to the forest floor, immediately pinging the area with a pulse of Chakra. Immediately, he picked up on several Grimm in the area, unaware of his presence within their domain. Quickly sending a small amount of Chakra into his legs, he disappeared into a blur of speed as he raced through the foliage of the Emerald Forest, an Ursa directly in front of him.

Pulling the Silver Sonata free of its sheathe, with one swift motion, he ridded the blighted creature of its head and cut his way through another Ursa and a Beowolf at the same time. After killing the three immediate threats, he pivoted on his right foot while pulling the trigger on the Sonata to change it into its whip mode. A bladed lasso coiled around the head of a charging Ursa as Naruto pulled himself onto the back of the beast, and with one solid jump, another decapitation was the result.

While in the air, he pulled the trigger once again to bring his katana back together just in time for a descending vertical slice that bisected a Beowolf, followed by a rising high right kick to the chin of a Boarbatusk that wandered into the area which lifted it off of the ground and exposed its unarmored belly to a quick succession of three stabs and a finishing slash which all but obliterated the creature.

Another Chakra-fueled dash enabled him to vacate the area of his slaughter in favor of another venue, this time in a rather modestly sized clearing in the forest… the entirety of which was inhabited by a King Taijitu, and it was a _big_ one.

"Huh." Naruto sighed, obviously unamused. "An alpha." He rolled his shoulders, earning a few creaks and cracks. "Finally, a semblance of a challenge."

Immediately, he was batted back into the forest by a vicious tail whip from the overgrown two-headed snake, which hissed its challenge out.

"You're big." Naruto called out as he leisurely strolled out of the greenery, an amused smile on his face while he brushed off his cloak. "Fought bigger."

Another tail whip was sent his way… a tail whip that never reached him because he had graciously relieved the snake of a part of its tail.

"Offending appendage: Gone." He smirked as the King Taijitu roared out its pain and anger this time uncoiling itself and charging straight at him as fast as it could slither. "Come on, give me all ya got!"

The report of a rifle was then heard, followed by one of its four eyes exploding. Another report was drowned out by its roars as another eye exploded, followed by a swirl of leaves in front of him as the shooter was revealed.

"Tenten, goddamn it!" Naruto huffed out in annoyance. "This was my kill!"

"Not dead yet!" She chirped out as she took her rifle and shifted it back into its jian/sheathe form, then pulled the jian free of its confines. "You can still claim it, but it's a race… partner!"

And so the race was on. Both Shinobi charged at the wounded beast, Naruto going for the black head while Tenten focused on the blind white head. If they both wanted, they could have taken the thing out with no problem whatsoever, but they were being watched and graded by the Beacon staff, so it wouldn't do to reveal their Ninjutsu to the world… not just yet, anyway.

After slipping onto the crown of the white head of the beast, Tenten focused a bit of Chakra to her left hand to keep her stuck to it as she flipped her jian around and plunged it between the bones on its crown and into its brain. After a few twitches, the white head flopped to the ground, dead… and it was at this moment where an anguished cry escaped from Naruto. Swiveling her head around to check on her partner, her eyes widened.

"Naruto!" She called out to him… too late.

The black head, already reared back, had tripped our blonde Shinobi up and was preparing to strike, and strike it did. With lightning speed, it shot at him and took him into its mouth whole.

"NARUTO!" She cried out in what seemed to be fear and dread… hey, she needed to be convincing just in case they were being watched at the moment. She knew full well that Naruto was also putting on a performance… probably as a cover to just kill the thing quickly.

After a victorious roar, the black head rounded upon the weapons mistress and would have struck had it not suddenly bloated up just below where its two heads were conjoined. Gagging and heaving sounds filled the air as the last living head of the King Taijitu tried to regurgitate its latest meal… to no avail.

After an explosion of guts and bile, Naruto stood there amidst the eviscerated corpse of the snake, covered head to toe in fluids that he didn't care to know the name of.

"I know this is on me…" He began, his eyebrow twitching. "But snakes _really_ love to eat me."

"Damn right it's on you." She whispered to him as she ran up and hugged him to add to the ruse. "Good for drama, though."

"I thought you'd like it." He smirked as he returned the hug. "That worried about me, huh?" He asked just loud enough for any cameras in the area to hear.

"Never do that again, you idiot!" She chastised him, then wiped a tear away as it began to fall. "I thought you had died!"

"I'm not that easy to kill. And I refuse to go down in such a pathetic way as being eaten."

"Jinx!" Came a new voice. Out of the surrounding shrubbery came Sakura and Ino. "Just jinxed yourself, Naruto." Ino finished her sentence with a smirk.

"I _just_ got eaten, in case you didn't notice. I think I'm entitled to a bit of optimism."

"You still jinxed yourself." Ino lightly huffed.

"Be that as it may…" Sakura cut in. "We should move on."

"To the ruins, right?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, I got a good view of it during my flight… and then ran face first into a bird."

"Today's just not your day, Naruto." Sakura decided to join in on the teasing as the group of four began their march to the ruined temple.

"Why did I have to be stuck with you three?" Naruto asked, obviously fake bitterness lacing his voice. "Shikamaru could have come back, Kiba could have come back, hell, I'd even take Lee…"

"You know you love us." Ino teased him with a cheeky smirk.

"Well, if it isn't Naruto." Came a voice from further inside the brush.

"Miss Adel." Naruto smirked. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Indeed." Coco returned the smirk after she forced herself through a bush, followed closely by a dark-skinned teen that had arm blades, the unfortunate rabbit Faunus girl from earlier and a hulking Asian-looking man that had a giant curved greatsword on his back. "I thought I'd eventually run into you again. Though, considering you're a Schnee, it's no surprise that you survived the landing."

"H-H-He's a S-Schnee?" The rabbit Faunus girl took a step beside the giant teen.

"Calm down, Velvet." Coco reassured the now identified Velvet. "He may be a Schnee, but he's not as… colorful as the rest of his family."

"It's true." Naruto nodded. "I have no problem with the general Faunus population. It's the White Fang that I dislike."

"It was sort of a worldwide panic when you and your sister were kidnapped by those sickos." It was Coco's turn to nod. "I remember it vividly."

"Again, we should be going…" Sakura mediated.

"Quite right. Coco, will you four be following us?"

"Yep. Safety in numbers, right?"

"You haven't introduced us yet, Naruto." Ino lightly pouted. "Who is she?"

"Oh, sorry." Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head as the group of eight began to move. "Coco, this is Tenten, my partner, Ino and Sakura. Girls, this is Coco Adel, the girl you saw me talk to yesterday."

"This is Velvet." Coco pointed to the Faunus girl who shyly waved at the team of Shinobi. "The big guy is her partner Yatsuhashi and this is Fox, who's my partner."

"Hello." Fox simply said with a polite smile.

"…" Yatsuhashi merely inclined his head in what was interpreted to be a greeting.

"And this is one big ruin." Tenten pointed out after the introductions were over.

"Chess pieces." Sakura noted as the eight hopefuls approached the aforementioned ruins.

"And some of them have already been taken." Coco brought attention to the empty spots. "Meaning we're not the first two teams to come through."

"I sort of pictured Professor Ozpin as the chess enthusiast type." Fox admitted as he picked up a black bishop piece and inspected it.

"Naruto, you smell that, right?" Sakura asked, leaned into him so as to whisper to him.

"Yeah." He whispered back with a nod. "The smell of death permeates this area. The people who came before us must have met a grim fate."

"Just like you said last night." Ino sighed bitterly. "People are going to die."

"Chuunin Exams all over again." Tenten added to the conversation.

"Naruto!" Coco called out to him. "We've taken our pieces! Your turn!"

"Got it!" Naruto called back, then turned back to his friends. "What do you think? Which piece?"

"They got the black bishop pieces, so I say we go with a white piece." Ino suggested.

"White king?" Sakura asked.

"Sounds good to me." Naruto shrugged as he stepped up and took the first white king piece, followed by the three Kunoichi.

"Now all we need to do is get out of this valley." Tenten said, pocketing her piece.

 **(Castle White Training Grounds: Same time)**

"So, he's made it to the chess pieces." Ned sighed as he watched the video feed on his Scroll. "Now to find a way out of the forest, and he's all clear."

"Beg pardon Mr. Schnee…" James cut in as he spared a glance at the man's Scroll, then to the man in question. "But shouldn't you be overseeing Weiss's trial?"

"She's a Schnee." Ned waived the question off. "She should be able to handle that giant suit of armor. I defeated it, Winter defeated it and Naruto defeated it. Now it's her turn to follow in our shoes."

"But what if she can't?"

"… Then Naruto was right about her." He intoned gravely. "If she can't defeat it, she's not worthy."

"And what about the Semblance situation, Father?" Asked Winter as she walked into the observation room above the raging battle below. "Weiss is behind schedule and she's showed no signs of unlocking it save for the Glyphs."

"It takes time for a person's Semblance to manifest, Winter." James counseled. "You know that."

"But her point still stands." Ned hummed. "Weiss is taking an abnormally long time to unlock what should be a hereditary Semblance; it should be second nature to her."

"Give her time." James once again counseled. "She'll unlock it when she's ready."

"I hope so." Ned sighed. "I don't want to denounce her, but I will if she becomes a hindrance to this family."

"As always, you'll have my support, Ned."

"WEISS!" Winter suddenly exclaimed, which brought the two men's attention back to the battle.

 **(Lower Level: Same time)**

She couldn't stand. Everything hurt. She was pretty sure her Aura had been shattered. From her prone position, Weiss was barely able to spare a glance up at the observation platform just in time to see a frown mar her Father's features before he stepped away from the platform out of her field of vision.

' _I'm a failure.'_ She thought to herself. _'Father's going to denounce me, I'm going to be stripped of my name, I'll never… never get to realize my dreams…'_

Heavy, thundering footsteps were approaching her. The giant suit of armor lumbered its way towards her, zweihander propped upon its shoulder, ready to finish off its prey.

' _This is it.'_ She told herself as she shut her eyes, knowing that the final blow would end the trial and seal her fate. She could picture the ridicule now, she could see the disappointment etched into her Father's face still.

"Let me in…" Came a voice from within her head, from somewhere deep and dark. "It's time." The voice sounded female. "Let me have control, if only for a few moments."

She didn't know why, but Weiss could feel that this voice carried with it a second chance, so…

' _Save me!'_ She internally screamed back at the voice. She was desperate for any way out, and dammit, she'd take anything and everything at this point.

"Hold still…" The voice echoed. "Hold still and stay calm… it will all be over in a moment."

After one more heavy step, the sentinel heaved its zweihander off of its shoulder and took it into both hands, lifted it high above its head and brought it crashing down onto the poor girl below it. It wouldn't be lethal, and the strike probably wouldn't have even connected because of its built in safeguards to stop when it concludes that it's won… but those safeguards had no time to kick in with what happened next.

A palpable pressure surrounded the lower level and the observation platform both just as a blue light shone off of the still prone form of Weiss. The pressure was sustained, the blue light gave way for a white light, the zweihander was still on its descent until…

"Kaiten (Revolving Heaven)!" Weiss exclaimed as she swiftly stood and began spinning at a quick pace to the point where it seemed like she was surrounded by a blue spherical barrier that carved a small crater into the floor of the lower level. The zweihander was stopped and knocked free of the sentinel's grasp, and just as the blade embedded itself into one of the walls, Weiss was on the offensive once again.

"Kuushou (Vacuum Palm)!" She intoned while shooting her left and right forward. To the observers, nothing seemed to happen until a split second later the sentinel's legs were thrown out from under it and it clattered to the floor face first.

As it began to shamble back up, Weiss seemed to crouch into some kind of stance with one arm outstretched in front of her and the other outstretched behind her. As she settled into this stance, her eyes opened, revealing them to be a light shade of lavender with no visible pupil. Suddenly, the look in her new eyes hardened and the missing pupil suddenly became semi-visible, but the most shocking part was that the veins around her eyes and temples bulged out, pulsating with some new power.

"Hakke (Eight Trigrams)…" Weiss breathed. "Hasangeki (Mountain Crusher)!" Her right palm shot forward into the sentinel's crown, and what followed was an explosion which all but obliterated its entire head.

"By the Dust…" Muttered James as he looked on in awe of what had just transpired. "Ned, what did you teach her?"

"That wasn't anything remotely related to what I've taught her." Ned admitted with wide eyes. "Winter?" He turned to his eldest daughter with a questioning gaze."

"Not I, Father." Winter shook her head. "The only person I know who could use Aura like that was Naruto, and even he admitted that his control over that kind of fighting style wasn't _this_ precise."

"Weiss must have been practicing in secret, then." James reasoned. "Having second thoughts of denouncing her now, Ned?"

"One thing at a time, James." Ned sighed as he reigned in his emotions. "We need to get the sentinel repaired and get Weiss cleaned and patched up."

"What… was that?" Asked a bewildered Weiss aloud.

' _It felt good to get out and stretch my legs once again.'_ The woman's voice echoed in her head once again. _'Thank you, Weiss.'_

"Who are you?"

' _All things in due time. For now, just know that I am a friend… and no, you're not losing your mind."_ The voice added with a small giggle.

"Right…" Weiss sighed. "Not losing my mind… just talking to a voice in my head…"

' _Might want to do something about your eyes before your Father and Sister get down here.'_ The voice pointed out.

"How?"

' _Oh! Sorry…'_

Just as the elevator from the observation deck opened up, Weiss felt the power held within her eyes subside, followed by the strange sensation of her physical eyes changing and morphing until they felt relatively normal once again.

' _Best keep me a secret for now.'_

' _Why should I?'_ Weiss inwardly questioned.

' _All I can say for now is this: Talk with Naruto. You'll get your answers then. Until that time, at least heed my one request.'_

"Weiss!" Winter called out as she scooped her younger sister into a hug.

"Just what was that back there, Weiss?" Ned questioned.

"W-Well…" Weiss lightly stuttered, then nervously chuckled.

 **(Vale: Beacon Academy: Same time)**

"Nice shortcut, Coco!" Naruto hollered over to the fashionista as he cleaved his way through two charging Ursa. "Right into a den full of Grimm!"

He was, of course, referring to the mountainside ruin that the group had found themselves in not five minutes ago.

"How was I supposed to know this place would be crawling with assholes?!" Coco shot back as she caved in the head of a Beowolf with her handbag. "How's everyone doing?!"

"Never been better!" Fox sounded off as he put down a couple of Boarbatusks.

"Yatsuhashi and I are fine!" Velvet reported in as she and the hulking giant of a man double-teamed a rather large Ursa Major.

"What about my group?!" Naruto yelled out. "Sound off!"

"Sakura present and accounted for!" Sakura yelled as she reared back her armored right fist. "SHANNARO!" Promptly, she brought it crashing down onto another King Taijitu who had wandered into the fray.

"I'm fine as well!" Ino hollered as she took her dual tantos, sheathes and all, and shifted their hilts down so they were more like pistol grips and began scoring headshot after headshot on the Grimm that were surrounding her with her now transformed twin hand cannons.

"Still up and about!" Tenten said, though her voice was drowned out by the bark of her assault rifle which was her Jian and tanto connected together, with the tanto serving both as a grip and a detachable under-barrel grenade launcher.

"We're all here! Good!" Naruto smirked as he pulled the trigger on Silver Sonata and roped its blade around the neck of a Beowolf and ridded it of its head, and then…

"… Why are they retreating?" Asked Fox as he took note of the thinned numbers of Grimm now retreating back into the forest.

"Yeah!" Coco exclaimed. "Run!"

"I don't think they're retreating out of fear…" Naruto said, his voice soft and carrying an edgy tone.

A low whooshing sound then filled the air. Gradually, said whooshing sound began to get louder and louder, as it if were approaching their position.

"My bet's on a Nevermore." Tenten casually mentioned as she reloaded her assault rifle and slipped a grenade into the launcher.

"Most likely." Ino agreed as she as well reloaded her pistols.

"I got something for it…" Coco smirked and suddenly pushed a button on her handbag, which folded it out into a large Gatling gun.

"Holy shit." Sakura gawked.

"Always come prepared, I'd say." Coco merely shrugged and began to spin up the barrels in preparation.

"Anything in particular you're overcompensating for, Coco?" Naruto snidely asked which gained a shared chuckle from both Fox and Ino, a heated blush from Velvet, an indifferent shrug from Yatsuhashi and…

"Naruto!" Sakura chastised him as she slapped him in the back of his head.

"Worth it." He chuckled.

Despite all the bravado going on, the Shinobi and Kunoichi there could feel the fear rolling off of Coco and her four subordinates. They were blameless in their fear, as they were undoubtedly about to fight something _big_. And something big it was, as coming swooping down from out of the clouds wasn't a Nevermore. No, it was something much worse.

 **(With Ozpin and Glynda: Same time)**

"Why is there a Griffon in the forest?!" Glynda began to panic.

"Not just a Griffon, Glynda." Ozpin calmly noted. "Look at it again."

"An…" She gulped. "An Alpha?! Professor, we have to send in a team down there now to help them! A Griffon is beyond what they can handle right now, let alone an Alpha!"

"No." The aged Headmaster shook his head. "Let them fight it."

"But sir!" She began to protest.

"Trust in their abilities, Glynda." Was all Ozpin said as he returned his attention back to his Scroll.

 **(With Naruto: Same time)**

"That…" Coco gulped as she tightened her hold onto her Gatling. "Is one _huge_ asshole…"

"A Griffon, eh?" Naruto cracked a smirk. "Finally, we get to face the big boss!"

"W-W-We can't fight something this big!" Velvet began shaking in obvious fear. "It's bigger than most Nevermores I've seen!"

"Calm yourselves." Yatsuhashi finally spoke. "The bigger the enemy, the greater the renown for felling it."

"Yatsuhashi speaks truly." Naruto nodded. "If we take this thing down, this will prove we've got what it takes to attend this Academy!"

"Let's rock!" Tenten suddenly screamed out as she opened fire with her assault rifle, which served as cover for Naruto, Fox and Yatsuhashi who all three dashed forward at the same time.

"Hell yeah!" Coco exclaimed as she finally pulled the trigger on her chaingun, a pronounced buzzing sound filling the air as it spat out its payload at a staggering rate.

Ino joined in on the cover fire with her hand cannons, letting up only momentarily for Sakura to use her shoulders as a springboard so she could get airborne.

With most of the bullets only slightly annoying the Griffon, it let out a shrill roar as it charged forward to meet the incoming group of three on the ground, oblivious to the pinkette that was on her descent downwards.

"Get the fuck down!" Sakura yelled as she slammed both of her fists down onto the creature's head in a double axe handle, which sent it clattering to the ground.

Yatsuhashi, being the first one there, let out a mighty war cry and heaved his curved greatsword up and down into its head, and with a spray of black fur and red corrupted blood, he knew he hit something vital. Tearing the edge of his sword out of its cranium, he took a step back and began dragging the tip if the sword on the ground before, in a baseball swing-like fashion, batted the creature's head out from its crater in an impromptu uppercut.

Like she did with Ino, Sakura used the tall man's shoulders as a springboard and followed up his uppercut with an actual uppercut which lifted it off of its fore legs and exposed its neck.

"Fox! Now!" Naruto exclaimed as he and Fox ran up the length of a couple of trees and, at the same time, pushed off of their respective trees and sped towards the Griffon's exposed neck from two opposite sides, katana and arm blades poised for the quick and final strike.

But, after whipping its head back around, it head-butted Fox away and flapped its colossal wings a few times to hover in place just in time for Naruto to pass right under one of its hooves. With another roar, it brought its left fore hoof down onto Naruto's back and promptly stamped him into the ground while also flapping its wings once again, sending sharpened feathers flying out of them and towards the support group in a very Nevermore-like fashion.

"Look out!" Tenten warned the group as she and Ino jumped out of the way of the barrage of feathers just in time.

"I got you, Coco!" Ino called out to the fashionista after seeing her trying to lug her gun around while also trying to find cover. Shifting her hand cannons back into their sword forms, Ino reattached the sheathes to their respective spots on her hips and tugged the blades free of their confines, then went to work in cutting and deflecting feather after feather.

"Down!" Coco yelled after the barrage was over.

Wisely, Ino dropped to the dirt just in time for the buzzing of Coco's chaingun to start anew.

"She has the right idea!" Sakura yelled to the group. "We need to get it off of Naruto!"

"This thing took out all of the cameras. I can sense no one watching us." Tenten whispered to Ino as she reloaded her rifle. "I suggest we incapacitate these other four so Naruto can do his thing."

"Good idea." Ino whispered back while stabbing her tantos into the ground and weaving through a couple of handseals. "Nehan Shouja no Jutsu (Temple of Nirvana Technique)…"

To Coco, Fox, Velvet and Yatsuhashi, a soft blanket of white feathers began to fall and obscure their vision.

"Getting… tired…" Fox struggled to say as he suddenly collapsed, fast asleep.

"Me… too…" Velvet yawned as she as well fell asleep.

"The hell… is this?" Coco fought to keep her eyes open, but ultimately, even she fell to the power of a Genjutsu, just after Yatsuhashi fell.

"It's for your own good." Sakura sighed as she released the Genjutsu before it affected her.

"Naruto!" Tenten yelled out as she released the Genjutsu as well. "Nobody's watching, so cut loose!"

Suddenly, an explosion of red Chakra erupted from under the Griffon's hoof, which served to burn the entire thing off.

" **Way ahead of ya!"** Naruto bellowed in a demonic voice, now shrouded in his One-Tailed Cloak, which he immediately dispersed, as he didn't need it to kill his current prey.

Instead of roaring in a challenging gesture, the Griffin was now roaring out the pain of having one of its hooves burnt off. The beating of its wings soon filled the air, as it was now trying to escape with its life, but Naruto was having none of it.

"Get back here!" He yelled as Kurama's Chakra surrounded his right hand. Thrusting said hand up, a giant red arm of Chakra shot out and grabbed the Griffon by one of its wings, where Naruto then tugged his arm downwards, bringing the Griffon, in turn, back down to earth with one of its wings now missing.

In a last ditch effort to kill its previously easy prey, the Griffon, from its small crater, tried to launch another barrage of feathers at the blonde Shinobi, to no avail. In a burst of speed, Naruto dodged all of the feathers and swiftly ridded the blighted creature of its remaining wing with a Fuuton-charged slice from Silver Sonata.

Now holding out his right hand, a blue sphere of Chakra began to form and expanded from the size of a softball to roughly the size of a basketball.

"I thank you for taking care of all of the cameras for us." Naruto jokingly thanked the wounded creature below him. "But, alas, it's time for you to die."

With one last defiant roar, the Griffon tried to snap at Naruto's legs, but instead had the ball of Chakra rammed into its mouth.

"Oodama Rasengan (Big-Ball Rasengan)!" Naruto exclaimed just as the Rasengan took effect and blew the creature into thousands of tiny pieces which very shortly began to disintegrate, as all Grimm do, thus leaving no trace of how it was killed.

"Well, that's that." Tenten sighed as she flipped the safety on her assault rifle and slung it on her back by its sling.

"Wake our four comrades up." Naruto said as he took one of the feathers out of the ground and promptly stabbed himself in the side with it.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Gotta make this look as convincing as possible." He grunted through the pain as red began to stain into his white cloak.

"… We're SO having a talk about your still-present reckless behavior." She huffed as she walked over to Fox and tapped him in the forehead. "Kai (release)!"

Ino and Tenten quickly went to work releasing the Genjutsu on Yatsuhashi, Velvet and Coco, and soon all four were up and about, albeit a bit groggily.

"The hell happened?" Coco yawned. "I remember feathers and then… NARUTO!" She noticed the feather sticking out of his side.

"Son of a bitch got me good." He weakly chuckled as he finally pulled the feather out, now experiencing the first stages of blood loss thanks to him forcibly suppressing his Healing Factor. "After you four were knocked out by that feather attack… had to keep fighting…" He then involuntarily began to fall forward, the blood loss taking effect… only, he didn't end up hitting the ground as expected.

"You're seriously hurt!" Coco said, panic filling her voice as she put a hand on the wound and applied pressure, after catching him mid fall." Why'd you keep fighting, dammit?! We saw you get flattened, so you were already wounded as it was…"

Her voice was beginning to echo, her voice was beginning to fade out, his world was beginning to go dark.

" **Let me heal this wound already, kit."** Kurama counseled.

' _No.'_ Naruto refused as he felt his physical body go limp with unconsciousness. _'This needed to happen. I'm gonna catch hell from Sakura by doing this, though, but I have to play my part… and…'_ He blushed.

"You like being in the arms of the brown haired maiden." Indra lightly scoffed. "Looking for different prospects than the snow haired maiden, are we?"

' _NO!'_ He denied with a vigorous shake of the head. _'Just…'_

" **Experimenting."** Kurama finished for his host with a smirk. **"Oh, just so you know, that whole stabbing yourself stunt did result in some internal bleeding and some major damage to a couple of your internal organs. I've taken care of that, so you're in no danger of dying, but… well, you said to not stop the rest of the bleeding, so…"**

' _I'm gonna die again…'_ Naruto resigned himself. _'I've killed myself this time around.'_

"At least we're going to die in the arms of your second girlfriend, kid." Indra sighed, opting to join Kurama in on the teasing; as they both knew the damage wasn't as bad as they were letting on… they just liked messing with the blonde idiot.

 **(Beacon Academy: Infirmary: Next day)**

It was dark. Did he still have his eyes shut? No, apparently not. It was just dark in the room, he figured. His side still hurt, but he was alive, at least. After blinking a few more times, Naruto lightly groaned as he shifted himself in his bed so he was sitting up… and this is when he noticed that there was another pressure on him other than the one the bandages were applying to his midsection.

"Huh?" His gaze drifted down, and when he saw the source, his heart skipped a beat. There was Coco, arms folded underneath her head and she was sitting in a chair, but had most likely gone to sleep with her arms and head resting halfway on his bed and halfway on his stomach.

How long had she been there for? Why was she there? So lost in his ruminations was he that he completely missed the fact that her chocolate orbs were now staring into his coal black ones.

"You're finally awake." She whispered.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Sorry for the scare."

"Why'd you do it?" She asked. "Why'd you keep on fighting? We got knocked out of the fight, and from what Sakura said, she, Ino and Tenten went down shortly after us, leaving you to fight the thing alone. Why… just… why?!"

"Why did I keep on fighting…" Naruto began. "Or why didn't I run away?"

"Both!" She balled her hands into fists. "You could have died! We all could have, and probably should have, died! Any sane person would have cut their losses and ran! But you… you kept on fighting!"

"I'm anything but sane, it seems." He chuckled. "I kept on fighting, Coco, because I wasn't about to let that thing eat all of you. I'm the type of person who will fight to protect their friends and precious ones down to their last drop of blood. I may have been at a disadvantage against that Griffon, but I had the motivation to protect everyone there… and to be fair, Sakura, Ino and Tenten helped me a fair bit and weathered it down before being knocked out, so I can't take all of the praise."

"But you nearly _died_ , dammit!"

"So what?" His answer shocked her. "If I die defending my friends, then it's a good death. Though I would much prefer to _not_ die, if my time comes, then my time comes."

"You… are a very noble person, Naruto…" She said, a lone tear falling from her right eye. "A noble person and my savior… I'm glad you survived." She suddenly hugged him, ignoring his protests of pain. "I swear, I'll get better. You won't have to defend me again. Next time, I'll be the one defending you!"

Little did they know it, but a powerful bond had been developed between them. And little did Naruto know it, but a certain older sister of his felt a chill run up her spine at the exact same time.

 **(Beacon Academy Amphitheater: That morning)**

"Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarlatina and Yatsuhashi Daichi." Ozpin began, after the last team exited the stage. "You four retrieved the black bishop pieces. For today onwards, you four shall operate as Team CFVY, led by Coco Adel!"

A round of applause followed Ozpin's announcement as the new team of four beamed at their accomplishment.

"We made it!" Velvet cheered with a skyward fist.

"Congratulations, you four." Glynda smiled as the four exited the stage.

"And finally…" Ozpin cleared his throat. "Naruto Schnee, Ino Yamanaka, Tenten Akiyama and Sakura Haruno, you four retrieved the white king pieces. From this day onwards, you four shall be known as Team NITS (Nights) led by Naruto Schnee!"

"Hell yeah!" Ino exclaimed.

"I knew we'd make it, shannaro!" Sakura cheered with her partner.

"Well…" Naruto chuckled over the applause. "It seems we have a long four years ahead of us."

"That you do, young Schnee." Ozpin smiled at the group of four. "I expect great things from you four... now, go and rejoin your friends."

"Yes, Professor." Naruto nodded and led his new team off of the stage and back down among the other first-year teams.

"Congratulations to you all." Ozpin spoke to the first-years. "With your appointment to your teams complete, you have the rest of the week off. Classes start next week and your dorms have already been prepared for your arrivals. Glynda, if you would?"

"Follow me to the dorms, please." Glynda politely asked as she stepped off of the stage and took to the head of the group.

"A long four years, indeed…" Naruto softly sighed.

Somehow, he had the feeling that things wouldn't be as simple as he hoped.

Oh, how right he was…

 **AN: So, Naruto and the crew are back in business! What do you guys think of this one? In particular, Hinata making a brief appearance to help Weiss and the fight with the Griffon. Also, the hints at a possible Naruto x Coco pairing. On the pairing front, I've decided that Naruto will only have one other girl, with the first girl being Winter. Who do you guys think should be the second girl? Right now, I'm torn between Coco and Sakura, as I have things planned for Ino and Tenten.**

 **In another note, you guys know I just HAD to draw a parallel between Naruto and Ruby. It seems that having run-in with birds is genetic. On a more serious note, I want you guys to go and check out Yano Uzumaki and his story. He was kind enough to give me a plug, so I'm returning the favor. Yano, if you're reading, this one's for you, bro!**

 **This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: FINALLY! It's baaaaaaaack! Sorry this one took so long. The combination of new ideas and life itself took up most of my time, but I'm sure this one will be worth the wait… I hope. ONWARDS!**

 **Chapter 6: Little Snowflake and a Dark Heart**

It was nostalgic, it really was. Sitting at a desk, filling out documents with a beverage within arm's reach seemed to set the mood for him. Of course, the documents he was signing off on were not of the Shinobi nature, they were related to his new duties as the SDC's heir. The first load of paperwork had finally been shipped to Naruto within a couple of days after his Initiation and it was Ned's way of acclimating him to his future position as CEO and President. Now here he was about two months later still going through his routine of signing off on everything before beginning his day of classes.

After taking a refreshing sip of his soda, Naruto leaned back in the chair, gaining a small cacophony of cracking bones which let him know he was at this for far too long. It was early in the morning and he had been at it for a solid two and a half hours straight going through trade deals, stock reports and the like.

Glancing over his left shoulder, he saw that the rest of his team were fast asleep… all, except for Sakura, who was laying on her side with her head propped upon her left arm, looking at him with a smile on her face. She was wearing a pink camisole and some simple black lounge pants that had stylized flowers painting them here and there in white.

"And what, pray tell, are you so giddy about?" He asked in a soft voice, a smirk splayed across his face.

"Nostalgic, is all." She lightly giggled. "Seeing you sitting there signing those documents just brought back a flood of memories. Remember the mornings when I'd walk into your office to find you passed out on your desk, pen still in your hand?"

"Heh." He chuckled fondly at the memories. "You'd slam a hand down onto my desk to wake me up, I'd quickly apologize and get right back to work like nothing ever happened… and then Hinata and Himawari would all but force me to take the day off."

"Of course, leaving the rest of the paperwork for Sasuke and myself to help finish." Sakura nodded. "Though on most days, it was just me because Sasuke was busy with Boruto. Occasionally, Udon or Moegi would help me, but it was usually just me."

"Glad I'm not the only one who's feeling nostalgic tonight." Naruto admitted. "Though now there are only a couple of hours until classes begin for the day and I haven't slept a wink."

"As if we need the classes." She scoffed.

"Are _you_ suggesting that all of it is unnecessary? You, Sakura Haruno, smartest girl in the Academy?" He teased.

"I'm suggesting that we have our previous life's experience to fall back on." She rolled her eyes. "And in our previous lives, we beat a Goddess, in case you forgot. A few corrupted wolves or bears won't be much trouble."

"And that's what scares me." His brow furrowed slightly. "What's causing the corruption? Is it natural, is it artificial? Can it be stopped? Can it be studied?"

"We'll find out eventually." She shrugged, then threw the covers off of herself and swiftly stood to her feet. "For now, since I can't sleep, you and I are going to spar."

"Best to make use of every second we have, right?" Naruto also shrugged as he stood from his chair, shedding his plain orange shirt as he did.

Naruto and Sakura had no qualms about changing in front of each other. They were more experienced than to swoon at seeing just a small amount of skin and they were certainly more mature than they previously were at seventeen in their past lives. They held a mutual respect and trust for each other than could have only been forged by the fires of war and time. They trusted each other implicitly; they knew they could count on one another… but despite all of this, there was still room for a bit of immaturity.

"Damn." Naruto lowly whistled as Sakura finished stripping down to her underwear. "This new life's been _really_ good to you."

"I could say the same to you." She teased with a smirk as she raked her eyes unconsciously over the form his new body had.

"You just did." He returned the smirk as he began to slip into his usual attire.

Once they were dressed in their everyday outfits, they silently made their way out of their dorm so as to not wake Ino and Tenten, then took to the halls of Beacon Academy, their destination being Ozpin's office to ask permission to use the arena for some early morning sparring. It didn't take them long to arrive at the elevator, and after a quick ride up, the doors slid open to reveal the man in question sitting back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other leisurely sipping a cup of coffee while reading some sort of report from the screen on his desk.

"Ah, Mr. Schnee, Miss Haruno." He regarded them as he looked up from the report and promptly closed the screen. "Please, do come in."

"Good morning, Professor." Sakura politely greeted their Headmaster with a smile and a wave.

"I apologize for the ungodly hour, Professor." Naruto apologized.

"Nonsense." He waived the boy's apology off and leaned forward into his desk. "So, how may I help the two of you this morning?"

"We were hoping to use the arena this morning for some early sparring practice." Sakura answered. "And we wanted your permission before we just barged into the place."

"Given." He simply answered with a slight smile. "Though before you go, Mr. Schnee, may we speak in private for a moment?"

"You go ahead." Naruto told Sakura as he turned to her. "I'll catch up with you later."

Nodding, Sakura turned and reentered the elevator, thus leaving the two men alone.

"Yes, Professor?" Naruto asked once Sakura was gone.

"When you and Miss Haruno stepped in, you might have seen me reading a report of some sort?" He paused only to let Naruto nod. "The report was actually a mission request from our mutual friend General James Ironwood."

"Really?" Naruto hummed. "What would James need from us? Atlas is perfectly capable of handling their own mission quotas."

"True that they are indeed capable." Ozpin nodded. "But this mission has come directly from him. Not his secretaries, not his Lieutenants, not even from your sister Winter. Directly from _him_."

"And you think that there's more going on here than a goodwill mission to boost both our Academies' quotas." Naruto reasoned.

"In point, James is asking for you to undertake this mission specifically. He says that thefts from the Schnee Dust Company are becoming more frequent, as you may know from the progress reports your Father forwards you regularly. What James is proposing is for a shipment to be sent from Atlas to Vale via railroad."

"I think I know where this is going…"

"But…" Ozpin smiled at the boy's insight. "Instead of Dust, the train will be loaded with only one piece of valuable cargo… you, Mr. Schnee."

"Yep." Naruto sighed. "Knew it."

"If the mission takes off, we not only will reveal the identities of the thieves, but with you on board, we run the chance of actually catching the perpetrators. We kill two birds with one stone, so to speak."

"And what about my team? Will they be with me throughout all of this?"

"James just asked for you, but you're free to include your team in this. The more people on the train, the better chance we have at catching the thieves."

At this, Naruto thoughtfully stroked his chin as he began to pace around the office, as if weighing his options. After a couple minutes of silent contemplation, he finally faced Ozpin once again.

"I'll do this alone." He decided. "Send a message to James saying that I'm on my way and that I'm asking for a full complement of AK-130's to be loaded aboard the train in two separate crates, as well as a Spider Droid."

"Why not involve your team in this, Naruto?" Ozpin asked out of curiosity.

"This is an Atlesian mission and a Schnee problem. I happen to be an Atlesian and a Schnee, so I'll handle this by myself. No need to get my team involved in something that I could easily take on myself."

"Then why the non-Huntsman reinforcements?"

"James has wanted an in-depth report on his droid army's efficiency when facing non-Grimm targets." Naruto smirked. "If the droids fail, I'll step in. And when I step in, this problem will most definitely disappear. I'll have then completed this mission and provided James with the report he wants. Like you said: Two birds with one stone."

Ozpin actually found himself chuckling at the boy in front of him. "Very good, Mr. Schnee. Now, James has also stated that you return to Atlas as soon as you can so the mission can begin in earnest. I'll alert my airship staff that you're on your way. Retrieve your weapon; get yourself ready… and good luck."

"Yes, sir." Naruto snapped off a very Atlesian salute before about-facing and exiting the room via the elevator. All was quiet within the confines of the elevator, until about halfway down… "I'm going to see Winter again…" The thought audibly crossed his mind with a grimace. "Am I ready?"

 **(Atlas Academy: Hours later)**

"Naruto!" James sprung up from his chair as the blonde was shown into his office and shook the outstretched hand. "Good to see you again!"

"Likewise, James." Naruto smiled as he withdrew his hand. "How have things been since I left for Beacon?"

"There's very little that you don't already know thanks to your reports from Ned." James sighed as he leaned against his desk. "Before you ask, no this isn't an elaborate plot to get you back in Atlas for a little while. Someone out there is _actually_ trying to take on your company."

"Could it be the Fangs?" Naruto asked, repressing the urge to growl out the name of his most hated terrorist group.

"They're always a suspect when it comes to the SDC." James nodded. "And it might very well be them… but that's why you're here."

"Why not send Winter in my place?" Naruto asked the question that had been nagging him for his entire flight. "Surely she'd get better results than me?"

"I would, but Ned's requested that Winter be given leave to train Weiss."

Now _that_ was news that Naruto wasn't expecting. "What's happened with Weiss? Has there been… improvement?"

"I'd say so." James chuckled, despite himself. "Your Father put her through the Sentinel Test…"

"And?"

"And she blew the thing away."

" _Literally_?" He balked.

"The thing's head was there one second, then poof, gone in an instant via some kind of Aura-enhanced palm strike."

' _Palm strike…? No… no, it's not possible…'_ The implications were weighing heavy on Naruto's subconscious.

" **The big-breasted Hyuuga girl's back!"** Kurama celebrated with a laugh.

" _It seems your life has just gotten a mite more complicated, boy."_ Indra, surprisingly, joined in on the taunting.

"Would it be possible for me to swing by Castle White before I leave, James?" Naruto asked, suppressing the voices of his tenants before a headache formed.

"We're still loading up the droids, so yes, you have a little while to catch up with everyone." He nodded.

"Thank you, James. I'll solve this, you have my word."

"I know you will." James managed a smile. "You've always made Atlas and your family proud; this is just another chance to show everyone that we're not to be trifled with."

 **(Castle White: Some time later)**

Upon his arrival at his home, the butlers and maids all joyously welcomed him back, as did the on-site security staff, and at his request, one of the butlers had led him out into the central courtyard where he smiled at what he saw. Weiss was holding Myrtenaster proudly as she stood against Winter, who was going to renew her assault upon her little sister when her gaze wandered over to the entrance.

"Naruto?" She called out to him, surprised.

"The one and only, Snowflake." He nodded and smiled at her.

He saw the previously confident Weiss freeze instantly upon mention of his name and hearing his voice. And while Winter walked up to him and hugged him, Weiss just stood there, frozen in place, not even acknowledging his presence.

"Is she alright?" He whispered to his older sister after hugging her.

"She's been doing better, but… these past couple of months have been trying for her." Winter answered. "She displayed some kind of hidden potential during her Sentinel Test and Father has tasked me with training her as best I can while trying to draw out whatever surfaced during her Test."

"And has she said anything about me?"

"She's devoted herself to her training, mostly, but judging from her reaction upon hearing your voice, there's still some lingering emotions from your last meeting." Winter eyed her sister. "Can you do anything?"

"I'll try to." Naruto nodded while giving Winter's right hand a reassuring squeeze, then let it go. "Go take a break, Snowflake. I'll take over from here."

After a hesitation, Winter merely nodded and walked away, leaving her younger siblings alone to hash out everything themselves. Naruto now had a choice in front of him, a choice that he hoped he wouldn't have to make for a long time coming, yet here it was: His sister or his wife?

He took an experimental step towards the youngest Schnee and when she didn't immediately blow up, he took another, then another until he was mere feet behind her.

"Hey, Princess." He greeted her with a whisper. "Everything alright?"

Silence was his answer.

"I uh…" He scratched the back of his head. "I know we parted on less than amenable terms, but it seems like you've improved quite a bit over the months since I've been at Beacon."

"… She told me to wait for you." Weiss finally said, her voice also a whisper. "She told me that you'd explain everything…"

"… So, you know about her, then?" He concluded. "What else has she told you?"

"That you know what's happening to me and that you'd tell me everything."

"True, I know what's happening to you and true that I _can_ tell you everything… but I'm not." He hated keeping secrets, but some secrets were worth keeping… the truth about him and what he was happened one of them.

"She also said you'd say that." A mirthless chuckle escaped her. "Looks like your wife still knows you, even after all of this time."

"… How much has she told you?" She couldn't see it, but he was glowering at her.

"Just the important stuff. Her name, where she's from, what she is… _the truth about you_." Weiss glanced over her shoulder at him, glaring daggers into his now blazing Sharingan.

"And you wanted to see if I'd be as forthcoming about the truth…" He scoffed. "Weiss, I was trying to protect you."

"And a damn good job you've done of it!" She screamed as she whipped around to face him. "I had to learn the hard way that I have another girl living inside of my own soul! I had to learn for myself that she can _possess_ me at any given point if it suits her! I had to learn that the person I thought was my brother is really a reincarnated hero from the past!"

"But I'm still your brother, Weiss!" He countered. "What I am or am not doesn't change the fact that I still care about you! I did what I did to protect you; I lied to you to save you!"

"Save me?! From _what_?!"

"From _ME_!"

She actually recoiled from him as he said this. There was something about how he said it that just radiated the truth.

"When I learned that you were Hinata's reincarnation, I had to stop myself from confronting you then and there. I had to stop myself from harming you because I wanted her back." He continued as he forced his Sharingan to deactivate. I had to make this choice a long time ago and I chose you over her… now, here I am again, having to make the same choice and I can't do it!"

"Choose her, Naruto." Weiss suddenly said, her voice a lighter octave, a voice he was intimately familiar with.

"Hinata…" He breathed, his eyes wide as he saw Weiss's icy blue eyes give way to the familiar lavender he loved.

"I've indirectly integrated myself with her, so she has most of my abilities and Jutsu, including the Byakugan, while maintaining her personality, her quirks… everything that makes her your sister." She smiled sweetly. "I know you want me back, and that thought alone shows me that you still love me… but this is a new life, honey, and it's time to let me go rejoin our children."

"I need you, Hinata!" Naruto shook his head. "Don't tell me to let you go when you know I can't! I _love you_! I always will!"

"I know." She calmly stated. "But this choice is tearing you apart and distracting you from your destiny. I've lived a long and full life with you by my side already, while Weiss has her whole life ahead of her… and she loves you, Naruto. She loves you just as much as I did when I was her age. Winter as well. Don't ignore them just because of me, Naruto. I want you to move on; I want you to find love in this new life without me."

"I can't!" He once again denied.

"Please, Naruto. It's time to let me go. You _have_ to let me go." She gently cupped his cheek with her right hand.

In response, he desperately grabbed the very same hand with his left as he slowly nodded, his right arm glowing a brilliant yellow-orange as he slowly slid it into her chest and grasped something within. "I love you, Hinata." He simply said as he closed the distance between them in a soft kiss as he pulled the object out and let it go.

Said object was a light lavender in color and was perfectly spherical. This was what remained of Hinata's soul, now free of its physical body. There it hovered for about two seconds before it eventually faded away into nothingness. He could feel the energy in the air die down as a result of Hinata finally being set free, and as he broke the kiss, he saw that Weiss was now back in control.

Realizing what he had just done, a heated blush covered his cheeks as he tried to back away, but Weiss immediately shot upon her tiptoes and claimed his lips once again before the thought of stopping could even register and threw her arms over his shoulders to keep him in place.

Their bodies were on autopilot now. Naruto's hands rested on either of her hips, her arms settled in place over his shoulders and she stepped into the kiss as their lips moved in conjunction with each other, their eyes closed and the only thing registering in their minds was just how utterly _right_ this felt. Mingled with this feeling was a sense of release on Naruto's part. He had finally put to rest his decision and gained a new love in the process. Did it hurt to lose Hinata? Yes, it most certainly did, but the way Weiss was taking all of this showed him that Hinata was telling the truth when she said that Weiss was utterly in love with him, and he'd be _damned_ if he'd cause her anymore pain.

After a few more seconds, Weiss forced herself to separate from him, and as she did so, she looked up into his coal black orbs and tightened her hold on him.

"I love you." She breathlessly admitted. "I love you…"

"I love you, Weiss." Naruto also admitted, with a slight smile. "It just took a little convincing to make me admit it…"

"More than a little." She mumbled as she looked away from him, her face nearly beet red from her daring move.

"And there's the Princess I know of." He chuckled.

"S-Shut up!" She barked at him, her blush intensifying as her ice blue eyes bore holes through his head.

"I told you…" He suddenly leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers. "You are and always will be my Princess. We may have had a rough couple of months, but what I said to you was out of love, not contempt. I could never hate you, Weiss, and I know the apology is late, but I'm sorry for what I said and did to you."

"You idiot." She lightly chastised him as she traced the scars on his left cheek with her right index finger. "We both have been through a lot. I said some pretty nasty things that day as well, and I meant none of it. I was frustrated, I was angry… but that didn't give me the right to blow up on the only person who's constantly supported me despite my… capricious and prickly behavior. I'm sorry as well, for everything I said and did that day."

"Look at us, making up like a genuine married couple." He smirked, knowing he broke the mood.

"I take it back." She deadpanned as she frowned. "You're an idiot of a big brother and I have no idea why I'm wasting my breath." Though she was frowning, she had that look in her eyes that Naruto knew well; she was inwardly smiling, no _beaming_.

She had her big brother back, she finally admitted her feelings for him and he reciprocated… _by the Dust_ did he reciprocate. Weiss equated it to his past life's experience with kissing that made it such an unexpected pleasure. She knew it was wrong to be in a relationship with her adopted brother, but if the flirtations she had witnessed on numerous occasions between him and Winter were any indication, neither one of them cared, so why should she?

"Come on." Naruto broke contact with her in favor of grasping her left hand with his. "James has me here for a mission and I don't have long until I have to leave. I want to catch up with everyone."

"Sure." She smiled and nodded as they both walked hand in hand back into Castle White, oblivious to the other set of blue eyes watching them.

"Congratulations…" Winter lightly mumbled to herself, trying desperately to fight back the tears.

 **(Schnee Train: Early next morning)**

Naruto managed a light yawn as he leaned back into the cabin of the train he was on. Loading the droids had taken longer than anticipated and he ended up staying the night at Castle White while having to slip out in the dead of night when he got the all clear from James. The train had been rolling for a few hours now, and from the stunning scenery, Naruto put them in Vale, somewhere within the Forever Fall Forest.

"I have to thank you again for overseeing this transfer personally, Mr. Schnee." The conductor thanked him for probably the hundredth time. Of course, he was unaware that his train wasn't transporting Dust, as that little detail was on a need-to-know basis and he didn't need to know.

"Anything for my Father's company." Naruto responded, his mind on other matters. The long white hair, blue eyed variety. He couldn't get Weiss out of his head ever since they confessed to each other the day before… not that he was complaining.

But those thoughts were instantly thrown out of the window when weapons discharges were heard in the adjoining cars.

"Showtime." He smirked, then turned to the conductor. "When I leave this cabin, lock the door behind me and whatever you do, do _not_ leave this room."

"Y-Yes, sir." The conductor meekly nodded.

By the time Naruto had arrived near the back of the train, he saw a red-headed Faunus easily dispatch the Spider Droid with an Iaido strike that seemed to completely disintegrate the machine. Whistling aloud, Naruto dropped off of the crate he was standing on and onto the car that the redhead and his partner were on.

"Impressive, to say the least." He applauded the redhead in a mocking manner. "Too bad they weren't the real threat here, Fang."

"A-Adam…" His cat Faunus partner took a step back. "That's…"

"I know." The now identified Adam nodded. "Naruto Schnee, middle child of the Schnee Siblings, adoptive son of Eddard Schnee and current heir to the Schnee Dust Company. Freshman Huntsman at Beacon Academy, son of the legendary Minato Xiao Long and Kushina Nikos, older cousin of the Mistral Champion Pyrrha Nikos, nephew of the equally famous Qrow Branwen and is hailed as a prodigy on par with both his Uncle and Father."

"Oh, you dirty bitch, work the shaft!" He lewdly demanded with a smirk.

"… Excuse you?!" Adam raged.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that I like to dirty talk when someone is _sucking my dick_!" The smirk never faltered.

"I was going to give you a relatively painless death…" Adam growled. "But now… you will suffer."

"Adam, NO!" His partner tried to warn him off… to no avail.

Adam had already fired Wilt out of Blush in an effort to catch Naruto by surprise and was already rushing forward to catch his blade. His eyes widened behind his mask when Naruto moved slightly to the left and grabbed the sword out of the air perfectly by the hilt while also drawing his own sword. In an instant, Adam put the brakes on his forward momentum, but not before Naruto charged forward and delivered a double slice against the man's Aura with both his own sword and Silver Sonata, and just as Adam backed up, Naruto pulled the trigger on the Sonata, transforming it into its whip mode and whipped it forward, wrapping the blade around the Faunus's neck.

As the bladed whip dug into and cut chunks out of his Aura, Naruto tugged sharply, bringing the man forward into another slice from Wilt and a straight heel kick to the chest, which served its purpose of having the bladed whip dig deeper into his Aura as he recoiled back. Adam was now the metaphorical ball to Naruto's paddle, he was being played completely… he was going to _die_. He saw now why the boy in front of him had flee-on-sight orders from the higher ups, he saw how utterly outmatched he was… and he hated himself for it.

Just as Naruto was about to bring him back in for another slash and kick, he found himself having to unwrap his blade from Adam's throat in order to roll out of the way from the covering fire being sent his way from the man's partner. After pulling his whip back into its katana form, Naruto tanked his way through a couple more shots before he disappeared into a burst of speed then knocked the girl's weapon out of her hand with an upper slice from Wilt, then delivered a double downwards slash with both weapons, followed up by an x-shaped cross slash… which ultimately missed, thanks to the girl disappearing into a shadow and reappearing above him with her weapon in hand once again.

' _Shadow Clones? That's her Semblance? Ironic.'_ He mentally scoffed as he backpedaled out of the downwards slash she had delivered, right into Adam and Blush, where he took a shot straight to the back of his head followed by three quick slashes from the girl in succession.

In this quick onslaught, he lost his grip on Blush, which Adam grabbed as it fell and slashed at the Schnee heir's back as the girl took the sheathe of her katana, which happened to be a cleaver, and brought both to bear down upon his chest. But just before they could continue their attack, Naruto once again disappeared into a burst of speed, reappearing a few yards in front of them.

"You two make an impressive team." He mockingly applauded again after stabbing the Sonata into the steel of the train car below him. "But, alas, this is where I stop toying with you." His eyes suddenly shifted into the Sharingan, signaling that he was indeed not playing around anymore. "You see, I seem to remember my sister telling me one important thing after we were kidnapped by you bunch of jackasses… the group that took us was being led by a redhead with horns… a bull Faunus, like you, Adam."

"I was the one that led that mission, yes." Adam nodded. "And I'd do it again if I had to."

"Then you're responsible for my disfigurement, and, by extension, what that crazy wolf bastard was going to do to my sister had I not stopped him." As the anger welled up within him, he could feel his eyes shifting and morphing once again into a shape eerily reminiscent of the Uzumaki clan's famous swirl… he knew that this was Indra's – his – Mangekyou Sharingan. "You were the cause… and now, you will die."

In an instant, Adam felt something impossibly hot burn right through his Aura and into his right shoulder. After a quick glance down, the pain hit him and he let out a shrill, anguished scream as a black flame engulfed his shoulder. On instinct, he dropped his weapons and tried to pat it out with his left hand, succeeding only in igniting his entire hand in the mysterious black flame. But before any lasting damage could be done, the flames disappeared back into nothingness as Naruto charged forward and drove his right knee hard into the man's gut, knocking the air out of him and doubling him over onto his knees gasping for air.

As the girl jumped into action, Naruto merely swatted her aside as if she were some kind of children's doll and she clattered to the cold steel in a heap, unaware of what just happened as Naruto glowered down at the still reeling Adam.

"I will not grant you a quick death, you son of a bitch…" He growled, his voice seeming to take on a deeper, darker octave. "You will suffer, you will beg for death... and when you finally beg, you have my permission to die."

Sharply, Naruto jerked Adam's face up and slapped the mask off of him, revealing the man's red eyes which matched his hair, then closed his bloody left eye, muttering only one word

"Tsukuyomi."

What happened next, the girl didn't know. What Adam was seeing, she didn't know. One second, he was gasping for air and the next he was screaming bloody murder, thrashing at the air and convulsing in ways that she was sure the human body could _not_. By the end of it, he was gasping for air once again… but the look in his eyes, the _look_ … she had never seen Adam so afraid, so… broken.

"Kill me…" He all but begged. "Kill me; I don't want to see that again! Kill me!"

"You don't deserve the satisfaction." Naruto all but spat at the Faunus. "You're going to be turned in for your crimes."

"NO!" Adam all but screamed once again, and would have retaliated had the girl not shot up and tackled him off of the train in an effort to at least save him from the _monster_ in front of them. And she would have followed him, but Naruto was too quick on the draw.

He had grabbed her by one of her arms before she took the plunge with Adam, and as she stood there dangling off of the side of the train, he sharply pulled her back onto solid ground while grasping her by both of her shoulders.

"Well…" He sighed. "At least I've captured one of you."

"What… the _fuck_ are you?!" She sharply cursed at him, the same fear that gripped Adam now gripping her.

"Your organization's worst nightmare." Naruto simply said as he locked eyes with her, putting her under a Genjutsu that wasn't Tsukuyomi in order to knock her unconscious.

As the girl went limp in his arms, Naruto lowered her gently to the ground, then rose and withdrew Silver Sonata from its sheathe, its blade already leveled at someone's throat.

"Sakura?" He questioned as she fearlessly stared right into his Mangekyou. "You're supposed to be at Beacon…"

"Better question." She shot back at him. "What _was that_?"

"What was what?" He innocently asked as he withdrew his blade from her throat.

"You fought like, acted like and _sounded_ like an _Uchiha_." She stressed, making her worry known. "What's happening to you?"

"I'm fine." He denied with a shake of the head as he sheathed his blade and turned his attention to his captive.

"You're not!" She pressed.

"I AM!" He rounded on her, on the brink of rage.

"… This isn't the Naruto I know." She shook her head. "Indra's doing something to you, Naruto. He's changing you, whether you know it or not."

"He's changed me." He nodded. "He did what he had to do to make me stronger!"

"Listen to yourself!" You sound like Sasuke while he was on his vendetta! Power this, power that! You're not sounding like _YOU_!"

"You were here for most of the fight! You should know that that redheaded bastard was the one who kidnapped Weiss and I! He was responsible for the butchering I went through! Weiss was about to be chopped up and _raped_ on his orders! How could I not make him pay for all he's done?!"

"And yet you let Obito live!" She fired right back at him. "By your new 'logic', you should have mutilated Obito on the spot because he was responsible for all of the bad shit that happened to you, but you didn't! You forgave him and let him go! Why couldn't you do the same for this Adam guy?!"

"Because…" He stopped himself when he realized… he had no answer.

"You've changed." She shook her head once again after a few moments of silence. "You're not the same, not by a long shot… you're not the savior this world needs."

"…" He stayed quiet.

"If you step even an inch out of line, I'll stop you before you ruin yourself or the world any further." She turned her back to him. "I'll let you die as _you_ , not the Uchiha-controlled puppet you've become."

And with that, she hopped off of the still moving train and disappeared into the brush.

"… Is she right?" He questioned himself as he stared at his hands. "Is something wrong with me?"

 **AN: So, Naruto now doubts himself and his new powers. Is Sakura right? Has he changed? Does he know how far down the rabbit hole he is? What will become of him and Weiss? What will Winter do now? So many questions!**

 **What did you guys think of this one? The whole Weiss scene was a moment of inspiration on my part and I think it turned out rather well. That being said, should I continue on with the Winter subplot, or would you guys like to see Coco as the second girl instead of Winter? That being said, there will only be two girls, which is why I'm asking whether or not you want Winter or Coco as the second girl. Give me good, solid reasons for your choice!**

 **This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: And it's finally here! Sorry this one took so long, folks. This particular update was a bit harder for me to write for reasons you'll see at the end. Fair warning; heavy dialogue this chapter and a mini-lime at the end.**

 **Chapter 7: Promise of a Lifetime**

" _Something must be done."_ Indra spoke up as he shifted in the mental seat provided by Naruto and his sub consciousness. _"This Sakura girl has been impeding us at every turn; she's unwilling to accept that we're a totally new person."_

" **She was a supporter of ours in our last life, kit."** Kurama counselled. **"But this isn't our past life. Remnant's a fucked up place and it'll require different methods and a more forceful hand to get it to cooperate. Sakura doesn't understand this; she's holding us up to the pedestal we created for ourselves all those years ago and expecting us to be the same golden boy we were."**

" _That can't happen."_ Indra agreed with his Bijuu co-host. _"You are the adopted son of Eddard Schnee and the heir to his corporate empire. You grew up with a family this time around, of course you'd change!"_

"We can't just kill her." Naruto sighed and leaned back in his mental seat. "I may have changed, but I'm not about to kill one of my friends."

"Maybe you don't have to, my boy." Their guest finally spoke up. "There's one more reincarnated soul from your past life that may be able to replace her on your team. You just have to… encourage her expungement."

"Get her thrown off my team?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. "How would I go about that?"

" _Espionage and deception."_ Indra smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. _"You're still a Shinobi, Naruto. Put those skills to use once more."_

" **And we could probably get the Yamanaka girl and Tenten on board with this as well."** Kurama suggested. **"They're fiercely loyal to you, and I'm pretty sure Ino wants you to ravage her seven ways to Sunday, so you can get their cooperation one way or another."**

"Stop trying to set me up with a harem, dammit!" Naruto blushed. "I already have Weiss and Hinata told me that Winter's also in love with me, plus there's Coco! I'm the heir to a corporation in a world where polygamy is either illegal or looked down upon; this isn't the Elemental Nations!"

"Well… who's to say you don't have a mistress or two on the side?" Their guest joined in on Kurama's teasing.

"Dammit, old man, not you too!" This time, Naruto slammed his head down upon the desk in defeat.

"It's just an idea for now, anyway, Naruto." Hagoromo chuckled. "At any rate, if you wish for me to get into contact with Sakura's replacement, you have but only to say the word."

"Who is it?" Naruto raised his head from the desk.

"Shikamaru Nara." Hagoromo answered. "He should be more than capable of taking Sakura's spot should you wish it."

"I'll think on it." Naruto nodded. "For now, my flight back to Beacon is almost over."

"Of course." The Sage nodded with a fatherly smile. "I shall await your answer."

And with the conversation over, Naruto cut the mental link to his sub consciousness and woke up from the nap that he had taken as a cover for the meeting. He blinked a few times to rid himself of the cobwebs in his head and stretched in his seat, yawning as he did so.

"Sleep well?" James asked him.

"Actually yes, I did." Naruto nodded, then noticed that the chess board in front of them had been reset while he was sleeping. "Another quick game before we land, eh?"

"Tiebreaker." Winter giggled. "Winner here takes the whole round."

"And what does our guest think?" Naruto took a glance over to the back seat of the airship they were flying in. "Who's gonna win?"

There the cat Faunus he captured sat, handcuffed to the table she was sitting at, flanked by two of James's personal guards. Realizing that she was being spoken to, she lifted her head and merely glared at the three, deigning to even speak.

"Like I even wanted you to speak anyway, Fang." He spat harshly at the girl as he turned back in his seat to face James and his sister. "Here's hoping she's made an example of."

"We'll question her first." James nodded as he moved one of his white pawns. "And then I'll request that she be extradited back to Atlas for a proper trial. She was involved with the White Fangs, had a personal relationship with yours and Weiss's kidnapper and probably knew about the entire operation. She had inside knowledge that we need and she'll serve as an excellent example to the Fangs should I retain custody…"

"I don't see why we just don't interrogate her now, then dump her body somewhere." Winter's piercing blue eyes bore into the yellow of their guest's. "Those monsters were going to rape Weiss; they disfigured you, Naruto…" Her voice dipped into an uncharacteristic growl. "I want her executed."

"Calm down, Winter." James advised as Naruto moved his own pawn. "That's for the court to decide, not you and not Naruto."

"I didn't know about the kidnapping." Their guest spoke up.

"Shut up!" Naruto barked without looking at her. "We're not questioning you yet."

"Adam didn't tell me about it!" She pressed, this time a bit more desperate.

"He said shut up!" The female of the two guards harshly backhanded her with her armored hand. "Stupid animal…"

"That's enough." James admonished the guard. "She needs to be in one piece for her audience with Ozpin."

"Yes, General." The guard in question nodded her compliance.

"Speaking of…" Naruto started as he stared out of a window after moving a knight into place. "We're here."

"Looks like you're still tied up, General." Winter again giggled as she stood from her seat.

"Not for long, Winter." James shook his head as he also stood.

"You two!" Naruto called out to the guards. "Get her up, we're moving."

"Yes, sir." The male of the two snapped off a salute and harshly tugged the cat Faunus to her feet. "Walk." He commanded, his sidearm trained onto her the entire time.

It was a spectacle. As soon as they exited the airship, the students and staff of Beacon who were walking through the courtyard all stopped and stood to the side as James, Winter and Naruto led the way, followed by their prisoner, the two guards and a small retinue of six AK-130's. Though in hushed whispers, Naruto knew that the crowd was talking about their guest, as well as the presence of James, leading to the conclusion that something big was happening.

Finally, they entered the Academy proper, where they found Ozpin, Glynda and the rest of Team NITS waiting for them. After sparing Sakura a lingering gaze, Naruto stepped forward.

"Mission accomplished, Professor." He declared proudly.

"Very good." Ozpin praised him with a smile and nod of the head, then turned his attention to his guests. "James, so good to see you again." He extended a hand.

"And you, Ozpin." James took the offered hand and shook it with a smile.

"Miss Schnee." He nodded to Winter.

"Professor." Winter politely nodded back.

"And who is this?" He gestured to the Faunus girl.

"This, Professor…" Naruto began. "Is an agent of the White Fang. She and her partner attacked the train. Her partner escaped, but I managed to capture her, in case we wanted to question her."

"Excellent." He nodded, then turned on a heel and began walking away. "Please, follow me."

"I'll catch up with you all." Naruto turned to his team. "I need to be there for this."

"No, you don't." Sakura glared at him. "You're coming with us to class."

"He's still on a mission, Sakura." Ino pointed out. "We can't just up and tell him what he is and isn't going to do."

"Like Ino said." Naruto nodded. "I'm still on a mission and I have to be there for the interrogation."

"No." She shook her head. "I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

"Return to class." The tone of Naruto's voice dipped into his old 'Hokage' voice. "That's an order."

"Not going to happen." She shook her head while also standing up straighter at the tone. "I don't trust you to be at this interrogation."

"Are you questioning your Team Leader's orders, student?" James stepped in.

"Indeed I am, General." Sakura nodded. "I do not think it wise for him to be alone with this Faunus girl."

"He won't be." Ozpin also took note of the situation. "We all will be in attendance, so your suspicions of his conduct are unfounded."

"I say again…" This time, Naruto's voice held a light growl to it. "Go back to class. I'll deal with your insubordination later." He turned to Ino. "You're in charge until I get back."

"Got it." Ino nodded. "Come on, let's go." She tugged at Sakura's arm as she and Tenten walked off.

"Is she always so insubordinate?" Winter asked.

"Up until recently, things were fine between us…" Naruto sighed in frustration. "I don't know how we're going to get through this…"

"An issue for another time." Ozpin advised as he began his trek once again. "Shall we?"

It was a rather quick walk through the Academy until they made it to Beacon Tower, where they led the Faunus girl into a secluded room, before which James ordered his six robotic soldiers to take positions at and around the entrance of the room while the girl was led in and sat down at a table. Ozpin soon took his seat immediately across from her while Naruto and James stood on his right and left respectively, with Glynda in one corner of the room and Winter in another.

Carefully, Ozpin made a temple with his hands under his chin as he studied the girl. She was trying to hide the fact that she was a Faunus with a bow tied around her ears, but he was experienced enough to tell a Faunus from a human. After clearing his throat, he began.

"What's your name, miss?" He asked.

"Blake." She answered softly. "Blake Belladonna."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Belladonna." He smiled. "My name is Ozpin, the Headmaster of this Academy… though I suppose you already knew that?"

"I did." She nodded.

"Now, Miss Belladonna, you hold information that we need." He explained, his voice unnaturally even. "If you cooperate with us, I can promise you mercy, but if you don't…"

"Just to be clear..." James leaned down to whisper to his colleague. "I'm taking custody of her. She's committed crimes against Atlesian citizens and she should be tried in an Atlesian court."

"One thing at a time, James." Ozpin whispered back, then turned his attention back to their guest. "Now, what can you tell us of the White Fang?"

"Plenty." Blake spoke up. "Though you should know that I was planning on leaving them at the exact moment _he_ came along." She gestured to Naruto.

"A likely story." Naruto scoffed. "She's just trying to save her own ass, Professor."

"You understand, we can't take your word on that." Ozpin directed a lingering gaze on her. "You were caught in the act with a known and wanted criminal."

"And said criminal ordered the raping of my little sister and the butchering of my little brother." Winter piped up from her corner. "I see little room for mercy here."

"It's the truth!" Blake defended herself. "I was with the White Fang because they promised equality and peace for the Faunus! I wanted no part in the recent assassinations and terrorism!"

"Blake Belladonna…" James had finished swiping through his Scroll for one particular document. "Partner: Adam Taurus, wanted for multiple cases of breaking and entering, grand larceny, grand theft auto, five counts of assault, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and…" He paused as he slid his Scroll onto the table so she could see her own rap sheet. "Ten counts of murder."

If Blake could have gone any whiter, she probably would have. Already, the case being made against her was too much to overcome and she knew that she didn't have a leg to stand on.

"So, how about you just snitch on those scumbag friends of yours, huh?" Naruto leaned in and placed both hands on the table. "Or are you now figuring that since you're looking at either life in prison or a firing squad, you're gonna take the info down with you?"

"Those eyes of yours…" Blake finally spoke after a very long pause. "I've heard you can enter people's minds with them."

" _So, she finally caught on…"_ Indra chuckled.

"I was hoping you'd recall that particular ability I have." Naruto smirked. "I'm your only chance of getting out of this alive."

"Naruto?" James glanced questioningly at him.

"Enter me." Blake all but begged. "Please!"

" **HAH!"** Kurama cackled. **"She's** _ **begging**_ **you to enter her, kit!"** Another round of roaring laughter. **"Well, don't disappoint her, give her all you got!"**

' _Dammit, Kurama!'_ Naruto mentally screamed. _'Enough with the innuendos!'_

As soon as he got his foxy tenant under control once again, he nodded and shifted his eyes into his Mangekyou form, which Blake recognized from the train encounter.

"This is what I did to Adam, though with an entirely different reason in mind." He explained. "I wanted to break him, while I just want to read you."

"If it'll exonerate me, then do as you please." She remained resolute.

As he walked around the table, he prepared himself to dive into her mind. He had never done this before outside of the usual uses of Tsukuyomi, so it'd be an experience for them both. He knelt in front of her so he was level with her sitting form and locked eyes with her, immediately trapping her within Tsukuyomi. The thought of just how easy it'd be to break her here and now crossed his mind for but a split second as he dedicated himself to sifting through her memories to see if she was telling the truth.

"… **She's fucking hot."** Kurama's voice came through once again when they came upon the first… risqué memory.

" _Are we voyeurs?"_ Indra asked. _"We're watching her shower…"_

"I feel very dirty…" Naruto shivered in disgust at himself, but nonetheless got a nosebleed. "How do the Yamanakas deal with this kind of stuff, seeing every waking memory floating around in here?"

" **Keep this memory up a bit longer…"** He could tell that Kurama was practically drooling. **"She's got a nice set on her…"**

"That's it!" Naruto declared as he closed the memory before his nosebleed could get worse. "On to the next! Can't be much worse than this!"

It was worse.

" _Now we're just watching porn…"_ __Indra groaned.

" **Holy shit…"** Kurama at this point really was drooling. **"Cat girl's got some moves!"**

"Is _that_ even legal?" This time Naruto fell victim to the spectacle that was Blake's sex life.

" _We're wasting time here!"_ Indra admonished the pair while stifling his own nosebleed, and seeing as this was someone else's mind, he projected himself into the fray and closed the memory. _"We've gotta go deeper!"_

" **Like the dude in the memory we just saw?"** Kurama suggested and got throttled by both Naruto and Indra for his trouble.

"Bad fox!" Naruto yelled. "No more sex jokes or innuendos for you!"

" **Then don't open up another of those memories!"** He shot back. **"The jokes are begging to be made when you open up a porno in front of me!"**

" _Here it is."_ Indra sighed as he came across some clean memories that actually contained what they were looking for.

"I'll be damned." Naruto chuckled. "She was telling the truth after all."

" _We can confirm that she was telling the truth."_ Indra nodded. _"But we still need more information on the Fangs as a whole, not just Blake."_

" **Got it!"** Kurama exclaimed as he found another batch of memories, this batch of the many meetings that Blake was in attendance for.

"She was a direct subordinate of Adam, so what we're getting here is quality info." Naruto reasoned, then closed the memories once they were done with them. "And I think that's all we need."

" **No more pornos?"**

"No!" Naruto once again yelled. "I'm done here!"

Before Kurama could protest, he cut the connection to Blake's mind and ended the Tsukuyomi. Once he was back in reality, he shook his head a few times and pinched the bridge of his nose just as it began bleeding, and he knew why… not that he'd ever tell.

"Must have strained myself a bit too much." He chuckled through his lie as he was handed a rag from Winter.

"Well?" James asked. "Is she telling the truth?"

"A hundred and fifty percent the truth." He responded as he wiped his nose clean. "And I went one step farther. If you wish to follow up and ask her about the Fangs, I can fact check her story."

"Then what's to be done with her?" Winter asked. "If she didn't know about the kidnappings and if she was planning on leaving…"

"Miss Belladonna…" Ozpin regarded her after weighing his options. "You may stay here if you wish. The next school year is only a few short months away, I'm sure I could fit you into the curriculum."

"There's always a catch." Blake lightly scoffed. "So, if I were to say yes, what would the catch be?"

"In return for safe harbor, you tell us everything you know about the White Fangs and we put your story up against what Naruto here saw in your mind. If it's genuine, then you have nothing to worry about."

"That's… acceptable." She nodded after a hesitation.

"And it is for me as well." James agreed. "I'm willing to overlook this rap sheet in favor of information, so consider your record wiped… for now."

"Mr. Uzumaki, you're free for the day." Ozpin turned to the blonde. "Classes are over, so you're free to return to your team while we all work the rest out."

"Of course, Professor." Naruto nodded and went for the door.

"Winter, you can go get some air as well." James excused the girl, a knowing glint in his eye.

"I'm fine, General." Winter shook her head. "Naruto has to deal with the insubordinate member of his team, so I'll let him have his privacy."

" **Dog house for you, my friend!"** Kurama laughed.

' _What did I do?'_ Naruto was mentally panicking.

" _Your younger sister."_ __Indra supplied.

' _Not yet, I haven't!"_

" _Not like that, Dumbass! You kissed her and Winter saw you!"_

'… _Shit.'_

" **You can salvage this, Casanova!"** Kurama encouraged. **"Work that charm you have!"**

"I wasn't going to immediately return to my team." Naruto shook his head. "Wanna join me for a walk, Winter?"

"No." She once again shook her head. "You have responsibilities now. Plus, Weiss might want a call from you before the day's done. Can't disappoint her, right?"

Naruto knew the tranquil fury of a woman all too well. Hinata, while soft-spoken, was a master of that kind of intimidation once she put her mind to it… and he was now receiving the mother of all death glares hidden behind the kind veneer his sister always wore when talking with him.

"I… guess you're right." He faked a smile. "Take care, Snowflake…"

Before Winter could even say anything else, he opened the door and ducked out of the room. He knew he had fucked up, and he knew that the best thing he could do was wait. He knew Winter would cool off eventually, he knew she'd call and apologize. He was her soft spot and she his, it was always how things would go. They'd get into a fight and then they'd make up the very same day.

Shaking himself free of the situation, he put his game face on as he made for his team's dorm. Once there, he opened the door rather quickly and stormed in.

"What the _fuck_ were you thinking?!" He bellowed as he slammed the door behind him.

"Something wrong?" Sakura innocently asked as she finished slipping into her pajamas.

"Sakura…" Ino warned. "I'd not antagonize him now…"

"I'm not apologizing for what I did." She glanced over to her friend of another life.

"Haruno Sakura!" He again bellowed, this time in Japanese. "Stand at attention when your Hokage is speaking to you, Jounin!"

Instinctually, she shot to her feet and snapped into attention while Ino and Tenten did the same while the former erected a Silencing Seal around the room.

"Now, explain to me why you thought it'd be a good idea to second guess me in front of both Ozpin and General Ironwood!" He continued his Japanese tirade. "Make me understand why you thought insubordination and outright _embarrassing_ me in front of the Headmasters and my own sister was a good idea!"

"Hokage-sama!" Sakura sounded out in Japanese. "I…"

"Who the fuck said you could speak?!" He got right into her face, eyes blazing with the Sharingan. "I don't remember saying you could speak! Or are you still being rebellious?!"

Silence was his answer.

"I thought so!" He turned on a heel and temporarily dropped the Silencing Seal as he opened the door. "You two go for a walk." He said to the other girls in the room, this time in English.

"Right away!" Ino rushed out of the room a bit too quickly for her own tastes, followed closely by Tenten.

After closing the door and checking to see if the Silencing Seal was up, Naruto turned around and regarded his pinkette teammate again. "Speak freely." He sighed.

"… I went too far." She also sighed as she sat upon her bed. "I just… I'm scared for you, Naruto."

"Scared for me?" He asked with a quirked brow. "Why?"

"You know why!" Her head snapped up to stare at him. "You're changing! You're not the same person you were in our past lives!"

"That's the thing, though." He couldn't help but chuckle. "That was my _past_ life. The current me is what my current life has turned me into."

"I don't know if that's better or worse…" Her head drooped once again. "Knowing that Indra's not causing this or knowing that you've become what you are of your own volition."

"And what am I?" He took a seat beside her.

"You're a mix of your old personality and Sasuke's." She glanced over at him. "You can still be an idiot at times, but you're darker than you were previously. And it scares me…"

"I was disfigured at a young age and I very nearly had to watch my own sister be raped in front of me." He shook his head. "Tell me you wouldn't do what I did to those who wanted to harm her." He paused and lifted her head up so their eyes met. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that you wouldn't go to any lengths to see them pay if it happened to you."

"It's just…" She tore herself away from his grasp. "It's a shock… to me, at least. I remember you as a happy-go-lucky dense little idiot… but now I'm seeing shades of that personality mixed in with a bit of the Uchiha's obsessive hatred."

"If it's about reigniting the Curse of Hatred, you don't have to worry about that." He gave her a reassuring smile. "I broke through Kurama's shell, and he was the physical manifestation of hatred itself… I think I can handle the risks that come with these eyes of mine." He deactivated his Sharingan and gave her left knee a reassuring squeeze with his right hand.

"I want you to promise me!" The worry came back and she grabbed him by the collar of his cloak with both hands. "You never go back on your promises, so I want you to promise me you won't change!"

He smiled as he lifted his hands up to caress her own gently. As he took her hands into his, he leaned his forehead up against hers and she could swear she saw those coal black eyes give way to the oceans of blue she had grown so fond of.

"It's a promise of a lifetime." He promised in Japanese, his voice a hopeful whisper to her ears.

"I'll hold you to that…" She returned the smile as she got lost in the ocean that was his eyes.

She didn't know if it was the frustration within her giving way or if it was the undeniable tension between the two or just the atmosphere combined with her unvoiced want… but Sakura was slowly leaning into him, pink and black highlighted blonde intermingling as their foreheads never lost contact. Similarly, Naruto also found himself losing control of his own actions and leaned in as well.

As soon as they both closed their eyes, their lips met and a jolt of electricity shot through their bodies. She raised a delicate hand and unclasped his cloak while his hands went to exploring her short pink locks. They had completely lost themselves into the kiss that they didn't want to end, but had to as they broke for air.

Their breaths intermingled with each other for but a fleeting moment as they dove right back in, their minds hazy with wanton lust and their hands now exploring their clothed bodies. Slowly and gently, Naruto pushed her down into her bed and deepened the kiss to the point where their tongues were shamelessly entwined within two lifetimes' worth of pent up emotions and tension.

After breaking the kiss for a second time, Naruto worked himself out of his boots and undid his belt, which ended up being thrown haphazardly across the room with a thunk of the Sonata hitting a wall. With Sakura's help, his vest and shirt had also been discarded, leaving him in only his pants. He then very quickly went to work undressing her, starting with her shirt, and this is where she flipped their positions. Sensually licking her lips, Sakura straddled him and leaned down to tease him with a maddeningly short kiss, then leaned back up and began to slowly unhook her pink bra.

As he stared up at her, Naruto's hands came to rest upon her hips while she began rolling them a bit just to tease him a bit more. A throaty groan escaped him as he was hit in the face by her falling bra. Shaking the object from his face, he stared in amazement at the absolute stunning beauty that was Sakura's topless form. Shaky hands went up to caress her perky 34C's, and as they did, she moaned and leaned down once again, this time for a rather sloppy kiss as she continued to roll her hips until she felt the treasure beneath his pants begin to grow. After another groan, Naruto flipped their positions again while she went to shedding him of his pants.

Soon enough, the Silencing Seal was being tested to its limits, as no one on the outside of their dorm was aware of the lewd, loud and very, _very_ passionate lovemaking going on inside. After some time, Sakura howled out in bliss as she hit her high for the fourth time, fingernails dug into Naruto's back and back arched slightly as he continued his charge. In the middle of it all, they shared a rather sloppy kiss that ended with a saliva trail between them.

He was close now. As he went to pull out, her legs locked behind his back and her moans of 'keep going' spurred him on further. After charging her a few more times, he buried himself inside her and their eyes locked as his essence poured into her again and again until he was spent.

As he pulled himself out, he collapsed beside her and was barely aware of her snuggling happily into his arms. Their minds were still hazy, but their needs had been fulfilled. They didn't feel the gravity of the situation as the curled up into bed together that night, no they went to bed with smiles and a glow.

It wasn't until the following morning that reason had reasserted itself. With a rather loud yawn and a stretch, Naruto glanced around the room to find it still empty.

"Ah well." He shrugged. "It's the weekend anyway; Ino and Tenten must be out shopping or something."

"Yeah…" He heard a voice beside him and his eyes snapped back open.

Glancing down, he saw the very naked form of Sakura cuddling up to him with her hugging his right arm between her breasts. Reality had hit him full force… no, reality had smacked him right in the face and as he tried his best not to panic, Sakura stirred and gently propped herself upon her left arm.

"Morning." She smiled.

But he was _not_ smiling. Panic was beginning to grip him, reality was laughing at him and both Indra and Kurama were silent; they knew that this was something he had to deal with alone.

With wide eyes and a panicked heart, Naruto's thought drifted to both Weiss and Winter and how he had betrayed them both. As a million questions ran through his head, one of them, perhaps the most important one, he voiced aloud.

"What have I done…?"

 **AN: And it's done! So, what did you guys think? I'm not experienced when it comes to writing limes/lemons at all and this was probably my second or third lime I've ever written overall, so what did you think? Was it good? Hopefully this chapter will ease the tension you guys seem to have with Sakura, but if it doesn't, then I've set up a contingency with this chapter anyway. It's only a matter of if you guys want to keep Sakura or replace her with Shikamaru.**

 **Now, pairings. Sakura will definitely** _ **NOT**_ **be a pairing option; this was just a one-time thing that they went through to clear the air only to have it backfire on them completely. Winter's officially in, but I have yet to write her chapter, so look forward to that at some point. My question to you guys is twofold: Do I keep or replace Sakura with Shikamaru, and do I continue down the Coco subplot or do you guys think I should stop at just Winter and Weiss? Coco for third girl? Another girl for a third girl? Keep it strictly Schnee siblings? Give me good, solid reasons for your choices!**

 **This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: IT'S BAAAAAACK! Hello ladies and gentlemen for the triumphant return of Foxes and Snowflakes! The votes are in and have been tallied with a near landslide victory for continuing as is! DAMN, I have to say it's good to return to this one, even though my writer's block returned full force. Writing this chapter kicked my ass and the short hiatus from this story did me no favors. Fret now, however, as this one's back with a vengeance! Now, enough dawdling, FORWARD!**

 **Chapter 8: Humility Learned At a Cost**

 _It was just another dull day at the office as far as I was concerned. I had mountains of paperwork upon my desk ranging from funding requests, petitions for promotion, petitions for demotion, scouting reports, finance records and the like. I had just finished signing off on a promotion application when there was a knock at my door._

" _Come in." I quickly bade the person to enter as I began skimming over a scouting report._

" _Naruto." I looked up at my name being called to find Sasuke standing before my desk._

" _Sasuke." I nodded to him and set the report down to give him my undivided attention. "What's up?"_

" _You remember that iron mine you opened a couple months ago?" He asked, his face as neutral as ever, though I had known him long enough to know when he was suppressing his emotions._

" _Yeah." I nodded once again with a raised brow. "What of it? Has something happened?"_

" _It's found something." He stated flatly._

" _Would that something be iron?" I snorted. "It IS an iron mine, after all."_

" _Would I REALLY bother you with something as pointless and asinine as an iron mine finding iron?" He glared at me pointedly. "No, it's something else; the foremen are stumped and our scientists and researchers are ecstatic."_

" _A new mineral, then?" I leaned back into my chair, eyebrow still raised. "Sasuke, is this going somewhere significant, or…?"_

 _Using his only hand, he produced from within the confines of his cloak a red crystalline-like object that seemed to be glowing crimson and tossed it onto my desk in front of me. I stared at the object on my desk with keen interest, as it seemed to me that it was resonating with some kind of power and as I picked it up, sure enough it was lightly thrumming in my grasp._

" _What is this, exactly?" I glanced up from the crimson crystal back to Sasuke._

With a groan, Naruto groggily sat up in his bed and vainly shielded his eyes from the morning sun poking through his dorm's window. After a rather loud yawn and a quick glance around the room, he found himself alone; the girls had probably left early, seeing as exams were over and they were on a two week break until the next semester started.

"That reminds me…" He began talking to himself as he swung himself out of bed. "I'm having lunch with Coco today…"

" **Put on your Sunday best, Kit!"** Kurama snickered. **"You bedded the pinkette, now get to work on this Coco girl!"**

"Not gonna happen, Furball." He shook his head, mostly to silence Kurama and partly to rid himself of the cobwebs still in his head. "You two remember what that dream was about? I'm having trouble recalling it."

" **We had a dream?"** Kurama asked, confused. **"Must have missed it."**

' _I recall no dream either, kid.'_ Indra agreed with the Bijuu.

"Huh…" Naruto then shrugged. "Ah well. Better get ready."

 **(Vale City: Diner: Some time later)**

"Holy shit." Coco blinked in amazement as she accepted the chocolate parfait she had ordered prior. "So, you and Sakura, huh? Having a really hard time saying I didn't see it coming…"

"I just don't know what to do." Naruto sighed in frustration as he facepalmed. "It shouldn't have happened, yet it did. I knew it was happening, yet I couldn't stop it from happening; I lost any self-control I had when we kissed."

"Sounds like you both needed to blow off some steam to me." She offered, taking a spoonful of her chocolate parfait as she did so. "There's nothing wrong with what happened; it was a fling and that's it. As long as you recognize and decide for yourself that nothing else will come of this, then case closed."

"Gods above smile on us both that she didn't get pregnant." He resignedly sighed as he sunk into his booth. "At least this way we can continue on like it never happened, but if she had gotten pregnant…" He left the thought there as he leaned up and took a slurp of his chocolate milkshake.

"What would you have done?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"I'd have taken responsibility." Naruto's eyes flickered from his milkshake to his partner's chocolate orbs. "I'm the heir to the SDC; I wouldn't risk the scandal." Again, he slumped in his booth as a groan escaped him. "Between this misadventure and the paperwork Father sends over, I'm at my wit's end."

"Exams are finally over this week." Coco decided to remind her friend. "You'll be heading home today, won't you?"

"To spend what little time I have between semesters doing exactly what I'm doing right now." If it were possible, Naruto would have been absorbed into the booth by now. "Helping to manage the company, torturing myself for what happened with Sakura and hoping to all the Gods above that word of this doesn't get out." As he was being absorbed, he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Giving me a damn headache, this is."

"Indulge my curiosity." Coco took another spoonful of her parfait. "Obviousness of this situation aside and not counting your Father and sisters, who would even remotely care about it?"

"My Uncle Tai for one." Naruto finally removed himself from the confines of the booth and held up his right index finger. "My paternal cousins, Ruby and Yang." He held up two more fingers. "As unlikely as she is to hear about this, my maternal cousin, Pyrrha, along with my Aunt Athena." His entire hand was open in the standard 'five' gesture. "I'd say my Uncle Qrow, but he's got a bit of a drinking problem and can't keep it in his pants for the life of him."

"Anyone else?" She pressed with a glint of interest in her eyes. "Hearing about your family's intriguing to me."

"That's about it." Naruto shook his head and lowered his hand to adopt a contemplative pose. "Well, there's also…" As if a switch had been flipped, his expression went from thoughtful to what seemed like angry to Coco. "No." Again, he shook his head, this time a bit more meaningful. "There's no one else."

"Ok." She decided to drop the subject. "It's almost time for your airship to arrive." She quickly checked the clock on her Scroll. "Is this where we say goodbye for two weeks?"

"Sadly, yes." He sighed as he rose from inside the booth and slapped some Lien down to cover both of their charges. "Atlas awaits the return of its prince."

"And Weiss her king." Coco snickered as she stood with him and followed him out.

"Do I sense underlying jealousy?" Naruto decided to cut a glance at his companion with a smirk.

"Not at all." Coco returned the smirk. "I'm merely reveling in the delicious, scandalous nature of your relationship with your own younger sister."

"I'm adopted; I can get away with it." He shrugged, upon which he faltered when remembering something else. "I also have to mend bridges with Winter…"

"… You love her, don't you?" Coco had turned serious at seeing him falter.

"… Yes." He merely nodded.

"You probably loved her first, then got caught up in Weiss's confession, right?" She continued. "You love them both and on top of your already complicated relationship issues, you have a one-night stand with Sakura to make things even _more_ complicated."

"That's the gist." He sighed through a nod of his head.

"Well…" She patted him on the shoulder. "We've sorted the Sakura problem; all that's left now is Winter, which I can't even begin to help you with as I know next to nothing of either her or Weiss." She gave him a sympathetic look. "All I can say is just sit down with either just her or the both of them and hash things out."

"Were it so easy." Naruto once again sighed for what felt like the thousandth time as they came upon Vale City's landing pads, whereupon was an airship with Schnee family markings waiting there for him. "Wish me luck?" He put on a smile for his companion as he turned to face her.

"Good luck." She giggled and pulled him into a hug which he reciprocated. "And good travels."

"I'll see you in two weeks, Coco." He pulled away. "Ozpin's put my team in charge of Prom, and I'd be remiss if I didn't get your opinions on a few things; I'll need all the decorating advice as I can get."

"It's a date." Her chocolate orbs met onyx in a gaze which they held for but a brief moment before he tore his gaze away from hers and turned to walk away.

"Can't keep my family waiting!" He threw a wave over his shoulder. "Father will kill me if I'm late!"

"Be careful!" She called after him, realizing all too late she sounded like a nagging mother.

"Always am, _Mom_!" He heartily laughed at his own joke as he boarded the airship.

' _You have to tell him, Coco.'_ She thought to herself as she stared at his retreating form. _'If not now, then definitely Prom; ask him to be your date, damn the consequences, we need an answer no matter the outcome!'_

" **We're not going back to Atlas… are we, Kit?"** Kurama stated as soon as Naruto had boarded the airship.

"Not immediately, no." Naruto confirmed aloud as he settled down into the lounge, knowing he was one of the very few people on the airship. "We all have been having the same sensation, no?"

' _A dull throbbing in the backs of our heads?'_ Indra piped up. _'Yes, it started during your conversation with Coco.'_

" **Got any idea as to what it is?"**

"At a guess, it's who or whatever we screwed over when we intercepted the White Fang on that train." He suggested as he closed his eyes and took in a breath.

He sat there in the chair for but a scant few seconds before an orange pigmentation surrounded his eyes, signaling the activation of Sage Mode, which he then used to feel out the now _very_ apparent tug of power that was pulling at the back of his mind. He felt anger, envy, pride… _darkness_. It felt like he was staring down the soulless husks that were the Creatures of Grimm, though unlike those monstrosities, this thing _had a soul_. Whatever it was, it had a soul and it was _powerful_.

"We're making a slight detour." He opened his eyes yet still allowed his Sage Mode to persist.

' _Should we not notify your teammates?'_ Asked Indra.

"Against something this powerful, they'd only be distractions at best." He shook his head as he rose from his chair and made his way to the exterior balcony that was attached to the airship. "No, we'll go and take care of this ourselves. If we take care of whatever this thing is, then I'll bet we can end the Grimm menace here and now."

" **And then retire to a life of monster hunting and business management with a dash of freaky threeway sex with two sisters."** Kurama all but licked his lips. **"OH! And the girl we were with today! And that cat girl we mind read!"**

' _The one we all know for a fact is a freak in bed thanks to said mind reading?'_ Indra scoffed into his fist. _'… I propose we add her to our harem as well, kid.'_

"There's something wrong with the two of you…" Naruto groaned as he hopped onto and off of the railing of the balcony in one swift move and shot off into the distance at speeds no normal human could hope to track.

" **Thanks to you, I know how humans procreate and I've wanted in on that action for a long ass time now!"** Kurama growled. **"Come on; hand over control to me when those sisters of yours decide to make their move!"**

"NOT LISTENING!" Naruto screamed out while clutching his eyes shut.

 **(Unknown Location: Same time)**

Dark clouds filled the barren, craggy and blighted land that ha naught but ash and rock covering its surface. The sky was tainted blood red and as far as the eye could see there were purple crystalline structures jutting out of the ground… along with miles upon miles of pools of a black substance that was surely as blighted as the entire domain was. Periodically, the black oozy pools would bubble, and from out of the bubbly depths climbed a mess of matted black fur, white and red highlighted bone masks… a Beowolf, an Ursa, a King Taijitu, all kinds, types and species of Grimm were clambering and slithering their way out of the muck to wreak havoc upon Remnant and its inhabitants.

The only seemingly manmade structure was a lone castle that dominated the area. It was massive in size and scope with its many towers and spires jutting into the skyline, silhouetted now by the shattered moon in all its glory and within the confines of the tallest spire staring out of a window which gave her a sweeping view of her land was a woman, if you could even call her that.

Her glowing red eyes scanned the land below her castle and a smile was spread across her face; it was not a warm or welcoming smile, it was a malicious smile that promised certain doom to whoever crossed her… and she was expecting a visitor. Salem had felt the link between her and this mysterious man, she had felt him probing the link and she had allowed him to trace the link back to her domain. She was sure he was on his way and judging from the power just the link alone radiated, she was in for quite possibly the biggest fight since…

"Your Grace…" A well-dressed man with an equally fabulous mustache bowed as he approached her.

"What is it, Dr. Watts?" Salem turned her gaze from the window to the kneeling man.

"Are you certain you wish to handle this miscreant yourself, Your Grace?" He raised his head and thoughtfully stroked his mustache. "One of us could battle him in your stead… Tyrian in particular has yet to satiate his bloodthirst."

"Normally, I would trust you all to be my eyes, ears and hands in Remnant…" Salem nodded at the man's worry. "But this new player on the board has yet to truly align himself with Ozpin and what's more is that he is immensely powerful." She then shook her head. "No. If we're to come to blows, you all would most certainly fall and I would be left without my loyal retainers to carry out my will."

"So you intend on inviting this newcomer into the fold, Ma'am?" Watts questioned with another thoughtful stroke.

"I intend to, yes… but I am anticipating his utter refusal." The smile returned full force. "Hence why I've allowed him to trace me back here, for if we were to fight, I'll be at my absolute best within my own domain."

"And when should we expect our visitor?" Watts stood from his kneel and straightened out his suit.

"He's already here, Doctor." Salem stated while turning back to the window as a pitch black void formed under her feet. "See to it that the castle remains secure."

With her orders given, Salem seemed to sink into the void below her, leaving Watts alone in the meeting room they were occupying.

 **(With Naruto: Same time)**

"This is some weird shit…" Naruto hummed to himself as he carefully stalked his way through the blasted landscape, intent on making it to the castle in the far distance.

" **Place reeks of evil, Kit."** Kurama agreed with his host. **"Better we just detonate this entire region and be done with it."**

' _I am of a similar mind with the fox.'_ Indra nodded his head. _'I suggest Bijuu Mode for this, Naruto.'_

Just as Naruto was about to argue, he came upon what seemed like an innocent pool of black ooze… that was currently in the process of spawning a Nevermore.

"Right." He very quickly squashed his own protests. "Glassing the entire damned place."

"How rude of you to decide to glass my home without even letting me know." A woman's voice broke through the monotonous silence which filled the area. Out of the spawning pool beside the one that was spawning the Nevermore floated Salem, the ooze making way for her as she levitated until finally she settled in front of her blonde guest. "I would like to know just _how_ you…" As she laid her unholy eyes upon his form, she trailed off as the words died before they could be formed. Her red eyes widened considerably, her previously stalwart demeanor now replaced by what seemed to be unbridled shock mixed with… fear?

Comparatively for Naruto, as soon as their eyes met, he went rigid. His eyes were also widened, his mouth was agape and his hands were twitching against his will as… _something_ began tugging at the farthest reaches of his subconscious, waiting and begging to be released until it just… _stopped_. He was left there with an irrational fear of the woman in front of him; unsure of why he was afraid of her, yet mingled with the fear was a burning flame that was urging him to make the first move.

"H-How…?" Salem stuttered through her speech. "How… you… but, I…"

"What…" Naruto gulped as he tried to reign in his emotions. "What the _hell_ are you?!"

With those words spoken, a switch was flipped within Salem. Before her stood a husk of a husk of a thing which she thought she rightfully feared… no longer, it seemed, did she have to worry. So, she smirked.

"What I am is quite simple, really." She spoke, relief filling her bosom as she adopted a more regal demeanor. "I am the Queen of the Grimm, and you are trespassing within my kingdom."

" **Kit!"** Kurama called out to his partner. **"Kit, get your head on straight and glass this bitch along with her 'kingdom'!"**

' _Father…'_ Indra hummed mostly to himself, making sure to turn off his mental like temporarily. _'You didn't… did you?'_

"So what you're saying…" Naruto took in a quick calming breath. "Is that if I kill you, then the Grimm will die with you?"

"Greater than you have tried to kill me, _boy_." Salem narrowed her now glowing red eyes. "I've tread equal measure with the Gods and even they could not lay me low."

"And yet you're somehow trapped here instead of wasting Remnant with your divine wrath." He broke into a smirk and dropped into a Taijutsu stance. "You've tread with the Gods?" He scoffed as his eyes began to glow orange, a vertical slit now going through his Sage Mode eyes. "Funny, I don't remember you at all!"

All at once, that palpable fear returned to grasp Salem's heart when she saw his entire form erupt into orange-yellow Chakra. His white cloak was now the same color as his Chakra shroud, with the inside fabric pitch black, most of his clothing was now also pitch black with six ethereal magatama hanging from his neck, his whisker marks were now six thick black horizontal bars, his hair was now glowing golden and had two horns growing out of his forehead. Behind him floated nine completely black orbs, one of which floated into his waiting grasp and formed a black shakujo.

To add to the terror that was shuddering through Salem's entire body, his previously glowing orange eyes morphed into the red of the Sharingan, then morphed again into its Mangekyou form. In all of his glory stood Naruto in his Six Paths Sage Mode, the presence of which was enough to cause Salem to gasp for air. Without missing a beat, he began to levitate a few inches off of the ground and began floating over to her.

" **You can't maintain this form for long, Kit!"** Kurama warned. **"So make it count!"**

"Shall we begin?" Naruto asked politely, despite being in his most powerful form.

"It…" She quivered while taking a step back. "It really is you…"

"Spouting nonsense out of fear now, are we?" He hummed. "No matter; you'll die all the same, afraid or not."

"Not again… NOT AGAIN!" She bellowed out, only to be silenced when Naruto flashed in front of her and stabbed one end of his shakujo through her throat, then bade one of his Truth-Seeking Balls into an edged weapon and decapitated her when he had pulled his staff free. With her headless corpse still standing, he held out his right hand and began condensing some of Kurama's Chakra into a spherical shape until…

"Cho Mini Bijuudama (Super Mini Tailed Beast Ball)." Again, he spoke calmly even as he rammed the sphere of Chakra into the corpse, which was blasted away in a rather large and vibrant explosion of reds and oranges with a fringe of black Chakra.

Satisfied that he had all but obliterated the woman, he began to ascend rather rapidly into the air as his Chakra shroud began to grow in size while morphing into the vague outline of a huge nine-tailed fox, and kept growing until it reached an absolutely colossal size.

"Ready to glass this place, Kurama?" Asked Naruto, who was floating within the forehead of the now emerged Kurama.

" **If we want to destroy the entire region, we're gonna have to use what little Six Paths Chakra we have left."** The Bijuu informed his host. **"I'll give it my all if you do your part!"**

Not needing anymore encouragement, Naruto pointed both of his hands down at the castle just as Kurama opened his gigantic maw, where another sphere of super-dense black Chakra began to form and grow in size until it dwarfed even the oversized fox. Upon reaching its full size and power, it suddenly collapsed in on itself, now roughly larger than a basketball hovering mere inches from Naruto's hands as he stared at the castle below him, the spawning pools of the Grimm and the overall tainted area that he was about to mercilessly glass.

That was when he saw it. Tendrils of the black ooze slithering their way out of the spawning pools to coalesce in a single spot, slowly, very slowly revealing the form of Salem who was now sporting a face-breaking smirk as the ooze consumed her and began growing and morphing, much like Kurama did when he was manifesting.

"I can see you for what you are now." She mocked him. "I was right all along; you really _are_ just a husk of a husk of a man that I once feared." The morphing form was now beginning to take on a more defined shape, sprouting wings, four quadrupedal limbs that all had claws, a long reptilian neck, black scales, dark gray underbelly, beady glowing red eyes and a red ruby-like gem sewn into its forehead which held Salem's actual body, teeth like razors long barbed tail with its overall size rivaling Kurama's. "In your current form, I doubt you have either the capacity or memory to kill me, _boy_."

Naruto defiantly stared at the unholy black dragon in front of him and finally let fly the Chakra sphere.

" **Bijuudama! (Tailed Beast Ball)!"** He exclaimed as Kurama spat out the sphere at a very high velocity, aimed right at Salem's dragon form.

Through the air it flew and whizzed until, mere moments from impact, Salem had bade her dragon to extend one of its wings which met the mighty attack head-on, where the Bijuudama began to struggle to break through whatever the hide of the dragon was made of... when the unthinkable happened. The Bijuudama buckled and was batted right back to where it was fired from, having missed Naruto by a scant few inches, and continued flying high into the sky where it eventually broke through Remnant's atmosphere and detonated in an immense explosion that shook the ground of Remnant itself.

"What… the hell…" That same fear was now creeping upon him again, having witnessed Salem negate and deflect one of his strongest attacks.

' _So, you did indeed, Father…'_ Again, Indra mused to himself with the mental link cut. _'The question is, why would you…?'_

" **We can't hold this form any longer, Kit."** Kurama managed to bite out, though he was out of breath. **"If we try to push it, we'll be doing more harm than good."**

The shroud of Kurama then began to dissipate as he slowly faded out of his Six Paths Sage Mode, though before he could begin his long fall to the ground, Naruto called out the name of his second form in a last, desperate attempt to put up a fight against Salem and her dragon.

"Susano'o!"

Around him sprang to life an armor made of red-orange Chakra and very quickly took the form of a traditional samurai in full battle armor, yet stood as tall as Salem's dragon and had six arms, four faces, two ethereal katanas within two of its hands, two magatama in another two and two wakizashi held in the last two.

As soon as it hit the ground, Naruto bade his ethereal armor to sprint towards Salem's dragon, where it began to launch a flurry of Yasaka Magatama (Eight Slopes Curved Jewel) from the two held in its secondary hands as it did so.

' _Like your Six Paths, you can't hold Perfect Susano'o for long, Naruto.'_ Indra reestablished the mental link. _'I suggest not overexerting yourself.'_

"Die, you bitch!" Naruto screamed as he kept up the flurry of attacks to cover his charge, hereupon approach, he had his armor swing both katana in a 'X' pattern to try and decapitate the dragon.

With speed that belied its size, the dragon reared upon its hind legs and began batting its wings, sending not only powerful bursts of wind towards Naruto's Susano'o, but also spear-like projectiles which fired out of the webbing of the wings, embedding themselves into the armor, one of which nearly made it to Naruto himself, who was standing within the confines of the armor's forehead. Growling in frustration, he threw a few more Yasaka Magatama before having his armor jump high into the sky to give chase to the now airborne dragon, where his armor also grew a pair of red-orange wings and continued the flurry of attacks.

' _Just gotta sight it in properly…'_ Naruto thought to himself as he closed his right eye while blood began to pour out of his left until… "Amaterasu!"

Black flames erupted along the joint connecting the dragon's left wing to its body, and unsurprisingly did nothing. No, Naruto didn't expect it to do anything; it was merely a setup for his next trick. The Yasaka Magatama held within its secondary hands dissipated, replaced by two Rasenshurikens, one the regular Wind Release while the other contained what remained of both his Six Paths Chakra and Kurama's Chakra, which took on the default Bijuudama appearance.

"Take this!"

At once, he launched both Rasenshurikens, the Wind Release one aimed for the Amaterasu-engulfed left wing joint while the other was careening dead on target for a center mass hit. An immense explosion of blue and black erupted out of the dragon's left wing when the Rasenshuriken hit and combined with the Amaterasu, interrupting the dragon's flight with it rearing back and roaring in pain, a roar which was drowned out by another explosion that was just as big as the first Bijuudama's when it burned through the skyline.

"Gotcha, bitch…" He smirked, though he was undoubtedly winded.

' _That took up more Chakra than I would have liked…'_ Indra chimed in. _'Though it seems we've at least damaged it, if not outright killed it.'_

The celebration was short-lived, as the dragon fell out of the sky in a direct nosedive towards Naruto and his now disintegrating Susano'o armor, and before he could raise a solid defense, the dragon sunk its teeth into the armor's shoulder while also rearing back its right limb… and decapitated the Susano'o in one fell swoop. As Naruto tumbled through the air while still inside the armor's head, he heard something shatter and looked up in time to see that Salem had broken out of her protective crystalline shell and was now flying straight at him while her dragon was also disintegrating behind her.

As he let out a mighty war cry, he unsheathed his Silver Sonata and coated it in what little Wind Release Chakra he could muster while also alighting it with another blast of Amaterasu… and he met her. As the collided midair, he plunged his black flame sword into and through her chest, completely convinced he had skewered her heart, then decided to flip their positions in the air so she would hit the ground first and absorb most of the impact. Down and down they fell for what felt like an eternity until they finally met terra firma with a crater being formed from their impact… and all was silent.

" **K-Kit…"** Kurama, despite his shock, managed to speak.

"It was a mistake to release you the first time…" Salem spoke with a victorious smirk as she, from below him with his flaming sword still embedded in her chest… also had him impaled on her right arm. "This time, I'll destroy your soul; make sure I finish the job properly."

And she _tugged_. An anguished, pained cry escaped Naruto as she harshly pulled her hand free of his chest, grasping a glowing red-orange sphere of pure energy.

"Say goodbye to your fox, boy." Salem's smirk widened.

" **KIT!"** Naruto heard Kurama's last cry before the witch had closed her hand into a fist, crushing Kurama's soul into a fine mist which evaporated into the air.

With a face contorted into shock, he stood, the flames upon Silver Sonata dying as he backed away from the witch in front of him. The Sonata dropped from his grasp and clattered against the barren soil as Salem stepped over it, slowly stalking her way towards her wounded prey.

"I've waited long enough…" Salem licked her lips. "If I take your actual soul next, dear Indra will disappear with you…"

As he was trudging backwards, he had suddenly tripped over his own feet, and as he was falling back, he saw Salem lunging forward to make the kill. Exhausted, drained of Chakra and suffering from a severe lack of Kurama, Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable… though instead of meeting the earth once again, he fell into a pair of waiting arms and vaguely made out a set of three images appearing on the field, two of which seemed to be holding Salem off while the third was hauling him away. His vision was blurry; he couldn't make out any of their features and even their voices were naught but an echo to his ears.

His vision went black and he had no idea how long he stayed that way; the next thing he saw was a head of pink hair and worried emerald eyes staring down at him. He couldn't tell what Sakura was saying; his hearing was still shot and all he could see was her mouthing words at him as she handed him off to Ino and Tenten, who were now carrying him out of the area when his vision went black once again.

"… alright, kid." He heard a voice, though he wasn't sure who it was.

"Get him… room, now!" Another voice that he couldn't recognize.

"… LOVE HIM!" He heard a female voice screeching and could vaguely make out the passion it held.

"… ruto… please…" Another female voice. "Don't… me!"

For a time, all was silent and black; he couldn't see, hear or feel anything.

"It was Salem, Oz." He heard a very familiar voice as clear as day. "It had to have been." He could hear his Uncle Qrow talking to someone, probably Ozpin.

"She took his soul, yet here he is…" He recognized the next voice as James.

"Perhaps Minato's son is more than we first imagined…" He heard Ozpin hum in thought. "Keep a close eye on him; if his condition improves or worsens, I'm to be notified immediately."

"What about Ned?" Qrow asked, though Naruto absently noted the sound of his flask being closed.

"Ned is to be informed as well." He could hear Ozpin making to leave. "He may have walked out on this inner circle when his Father passed, but his heir being targeted and nearly killed by Salem should be enough to coax him back into the fold."

"And his sisters?" James asked.

"What about them?" Naruto noted the coldness in Ozpin's tone. "They're not to be let in on any of this; it's better for them to be ignorant of it all." Faintly, Naruto could make out the sound of a doorknob being turned. "Keep them out of this, James. Salem's made the first move and this boy is the key to figuring out the mystery of where she is."

"Is that all he is to you, Oz?!" Qrow snapped. "A roadmap and a convenient tool to use against the witch?!"

"He survived where hundreds of thousands have fallen." The cold edge returned to Ozpin's voice. "He knows where her base is, he knows how far she's evolved in power, he knows more about her right now than even _I_ do." A door was opened. "I need to know what secrets he holds; those secrets may be what spares us from utter doom."

The door was shut, and with it, his hearing turned into an echo once again and he surrendered to the blackness.

" _What are we calling this thing?" I asked as I held aloft the thrumming red crystal. "Do we have a name for it yet?"_

" _Well, attempts to mine it have met with fatal results." Sasuke settled into a thinking pose. "Getting just that much had to be done with careful precision. Even the smallest amount, if handled improperly, can be extremely volatile and hazardous if inhaled in significant quantities."_

" _But does it have a NAME?" I returned to my original question with a groan._

" _It's not official yet, but the miners have given it a local term because the majority of it has proved most hazardous on their lungs." Sasuke took the crystal from me and studied it himself with his now active Sharingan._

" _And that term is…?" I rolled my eyes at his evasiveness._

" _Dust."_

 **AN: DONE!**

 **Now, I know you all will have questions, but rest assured, there will be answers given in time, including just how in the blue hell Salem was able to stand up to Naruto's full power. Again, answers will come in time, so I ask of all of you to be patient!**

 **On the pairing front, not much has changed. Weiss and Winter are still in with Coco still having a huge question mark in the grand scheme of things. Should she be included? Should I consider adding not only her, but Blake as well? Should I replace Coco with Blake as the potential third girl, should it stay strictly Schnee family? Keep those opinions rolling in, people!**

 **Also, as a side note, who do you think was the girl who was screaming that they loved him while he was slipping in and out of consciousness? Winter? Weiss? Coco? Debate away, I say! Debate away!**

 **This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!**


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